Today the American Governance Institute submitted written testimony calling for transparency for legal counsel opinions issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. These final, authoritative opinions constitute a body of largely secret law that should be available to the public.

In the absence of transparency, OLC opinions at times have embodied not the best interpretation of the law, but instead permission for administration to engage in inappropriate and unlawful activities. Sunlight will provide incentives for the opinions to be more in line with current jurisprudence and give Congress an opportunity to push back on opinions that cross the line.