Give me your honest opinion

(via Balkinization)

WaPo is reporting that the White House had a streamlined vetting procedure for Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.

Namely, "will this candidate do exactly as they are told?"

Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft offered the White House a list of five candidates to lead the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel in early 2003, but top administration officials summarily rejected them in favor of installing a loyalist who would provide the legal footing needed to continue coercive interrogation techniques and broadly interpret executive power, according to two former administration officials.

WaPo goes on to say:

But two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Card called to reject the names shortly after the list arrived at the White House.

"The message was that there was only one candidate they wanted, and that was John Yoo," one source said.

[snip]

Card and Gonzales "were absolutely determined to have a guy who was going to tell them what they wanted to hear," said the other source.

Balkinization's analysis is a good supplement to the WaPo piece.