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The list of the more than three dozen still highly classified documents was assembled by Pro Publica, an independent public interest journalism organization founded in 2007 by former Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger. 

"The Bush administration's controversial policies on detentions, interrogations and warrantless wiretapping were underpinned by legal memoranda," write Pro Publica reporters Dan Nguyen and Christopher Weaver. "While some of those memos have been released (primarily as a result of ACLU lawsuits), the former administration kept far more memos secret than has been previously understood. At least three dozen by our count."

Holder, in response to written questions from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), suggested that at least some of the still-secret memos may be released after a review.

"Once the new Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel is confirmed, I plan to instruct that official to review the OLC's policies relating to publication of its opinions with the [objective] of making its opinions available to the maximum extent consistent with sound practice and competing concerns," he told Feingold.

Considering the background of President Obama's choice to head the OLC, the Justice Department will almost certainly tilt toward publication of at least some of the memos. 

Dawn Johnson, a University of Indiana law professor, headed the OLC during the Clinton administration. A former counsel to the ACLU, she has written on the OLC's role in restricting presidential power to the letter of the law. 

 

Holder also said the Justice Department would review cases in which U.S. intelligence organizations may have invoked the claim of "state secrets" to avoid accountability for illegal or unethical acts.

"I will review significant pending cases in which DOJ has invoked the state secrets privilege, and will work with leaders in other agencies and professionals at the Department of Justice to ensure that the United States invokes the state secrets privilege only in legally appropriate situations," Holder said in response to a written question from Feingold, a member of both the Judiciary and Select Intelligence committees.