Report targets Bush adminstration lawyers

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. Justice Department report criticizes top Bush administration lawyers who approved the use of waterboarding on detainees, Newsweek reported Saturday.

The magazine, citing two "knowledgeable sources," said a draft document by the Office of Professional Responsibility was submitted in President George W. Bush's last weeks. The sources said the report targeted John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who had left the department, and Steven Bradbury, chief of the Office of Legal Counsel.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip disagreed with the report, Newsweek said. The sources said Filip wanted it to include responses from Yoo, Bybee and Bradbury.

Eric Holder, who succeeded Mukasey as attorney general, could forward the final report to state bar associations. The three lawyers could face disciplinary action.

One former Bush administration lawyer told Newsweek the OPR is not competent to judge the legal work done by Yoo, Bradbury and Bybee.

"They're not constitutional scholars," he said.