Leahy seeks White House torture documents

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Documents outlining Bush administration policies on torture and interrogation were requested again by U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Leahy, D-Vt., in a letter sent Wednesday to White House Counsel Fred Fielding, said, media reports indicated that perhaps "three legal memoranda from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2005, not just two, that have been withheld from us."

The policies of U.S. President George Bush's administration have been the focus recently during committee's confirmation proceedings on the Michael Mukasey as U.S. attorney general.

Leahy said he asked for the documents several weeks ago.

"Apparently, the Administration has conceded the existence of three such memoranda in court filings this week," he wrote.

He chided the administration for not handing over the requested documents after former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation.

"(Without) these materials and a shared understanding of what the Administration has been doing, is doing, its justifications, its legal analysis, and its purported basis for overriding our laws and treaty obligations, many members of the committee remain very concerned," Leahy wrote.