Dems Finally Do Something That Counts

Bowing to pressure from Democrats and human rights groups, the White House has withdrawn the nomination of John Rizzo to be the CIA's top attorney after months of controversy over his role in the agency's interrogation policy.

Rizzo, a career CIA lawyer, had drawn fire because of his support for Bush administration legal doctrines permitting so-called "enhanced interrogation" of terrorism detainees in CIA custody.

A senior official said Rizzo told President Bush he had decided to withdraw after concluding that the nomination would not succeed and that drawing out the process would not be helpful.

Rizzo remains a senior attorney at the CIA.

More here.