JOHN W. DEAN Beyond the Pale: The Newly-Released, Indefensible Office of Legal Counsel Terror Memos FindLaw columnist and former counsel to the president John Dean discusses the Obama Department of Justice's release of seven memos written by the Bush Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- as well as of two more Bush OLC memos, from late 2008 and early 2009, which disavowed the seven earlier memos. Dean contends that the reasoning behind the seven post-9/11 memos was misleading, and that the arguments they presented were deceptive. Dean sharply criticizes the memos' lead attorney, John Yoo, arguing that his work seriously tarnished the previously high reputation of OLC. Dean takes Yoo's work to task as being intellectually dishonest -- noting that it has drawn harsh criticism not only from liberals and moderates, but also from Yoo's fellow conservatives, including former OLC head Jack Goldsmith. Dean notes that a report about the memos by the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility is thought to be imminent.