Torture is frowned upon by a lot of Americans, and is illegal as well.

In much the same way as a good defense lawyer will seek to exclude damaging evidence, the government lawyers seek to use the law to conceal illegal or embarassing activities.

Unfortunately, the government lawyers are supposed to be in the law enforcement business, regarding the activities of all citizens, including interrogators.

It hasn't been possible to justify torture as a legal activity. To conceal it is the next best thing.

67 pages from the ACLU archive, March 2006.

The court documents that provided the information for the WP article haven't popped up for me yet, but I did find the habeas corpus petition, at the Center for Constitutional Rights site.