OLC doesn’t necessarily have a great reputation. They give legal advice to the executive branch, and attorneys are notorious for giving the answers they think t

OLC doesn’t necessarily have a great reputation. They give legal advice to the executive branch, and attorneys are notorious for giving the answers they think their clients want. OLC is supposed to give the “best reading of the law,” while regular attorneys are expected to push the envelope a little. Even so, when I read a new story that says the justice department’s failure to act is newsworthy, I shouldn’t have to read the justice department’s website to find out why it didn’t act. A decent news organization would make some effort to ask that question before publishing their story. Mentioning OLC’s interpretation doesn’t mean I agree with it, either. The Congressional Research Service paper doesn’t call out the issue, but see if you notice a theme in the last few bullet points in the “Potential Questions for Congress” list (last pages): https://fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R45345.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R45345.pdf .