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Yes, it appears that under Bush, the functions of the President's Counsel and OLC have been conflated. Keeping the President "squeaky clean" would seem to me to be more the function of the President's Counsel, but these guys have just moved it all to OLC so that everyone in the Executive Branch is "innoculated" (they hope). I remember having a long discussion about this a few months back with Dirigo. From his questions a few comments up and this discussion of ours, it appears that we all are still left to wonder about what their roles will be in the future. This would be a good line of inquiry during confirmation hearings, because, as you point out, improper influence from the Executive can wreak havoc on the proper functioning of OLC in the future.
