Bush taps the man who wrote the torture memos, the legal mind behind justifying the rapid consolidation of power behind the executive branch over the past four years, to replace John Ashcroft:

President Bush named White House counsel Alberto Gonzales as attorney general on Wednesday, picking the administration's most prominent Hispanic for a highly visible post in the war on terror. ``His sharp intellect and sound judgment have helped shape our policies in the war on terror,'' Bush said of the man who has served as the White House's top lawyer over the past four years.