Jack Goldsmith, former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 2, the committee announced today.

Mr. Goldsmith, who advised President Bush on the extent of his executive branch war time powers, recently published a book, "The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration."

In the book, Mr. Goldsmith defends the Bush administration from charges that they have made law with the intent to torture detainees and enemy combatants, and commends the administration's efforts to protect the country from terrorism.

However, Mr. Goldmsith, who resigned in part due to disagreement over OLC opinions written by his predecessor, Jay Bybee, criticizes President Bush for his disregard for Congress.

Mr. Goldsmith also criticizes David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and says that Mr. Cheney's then-legal counsel was one of the main proponents of unilateral use of executive branch powers inside the administration.

Mr. Goldsmith says that by seeking to expand presidential war time powers — something Mr. Goldsmith thinks needed to happen — without working with Congress, Mr. Bush has actually diminished the scope of executive branch authority.

Mr. Goldsmith is now teaching at Harvard Law School.

A former high-ranking Justice official — a Republican — told me last week that while the conclusions Mr. Goldsmith reaches in his book are probably correct, he should not have written the book, because it discloses conversations that are protected under attorney-client privileges.

— John Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times