When US Attorney General Eric Holder announced the impending release of three Office of Legal Council (OLC) memos regarding the authorization of "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the Bush administration, human rights advocates felt that they would soon possess evidence that torture had been approved at the highest levels of American government. The "torture memos," approved by former Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, were supposed to be made public last Thursday, but they were not.

It is now being reported by numerous sources that the OLC documents are being held hostage by Congressional Republicans, threatening to filibuster the confirmation of two controversial Obama appointees.