Brennan nomination opens Obama to criticism on secret targeted killings The secrecy surrounding that policy was punctured Monday with the disclosure of a Justice Department "white paper" that spells out the administration's case for killing Americans accused of being al-Qaeda operatives. The timing of the leak appeared aimed at intensifying pressure on the White House to disclose more detailed legal memos summarized by the white paper, as well as put Brennan on the defensive for his looming appearance on Capitol Hill. Administration officials sought to downplay the dispute Tuesday, saying that they have already described the principles outlined in the document in a series of recent speeches. "One of the things I want to make sure that everybody understands is that our primary concern is to keep the American people safe, but to do so in a way that's consistent with our laws and consistent with our values," Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in response to questions about the document. Nevertheless, the leak and new signals from senior lawmakers that they may seek to delay, if not derail, Brennan's confirmation made it clear that Obama's decision to nominate his counterterrorism chief has drawn the White House into a fight it had sought to avoid. The white paper, which was first reported by NBC News on Monday night, says the United States can lawfully kill a U.S. citizen overseas if it determines the target is a "senior, operational leader" of al-Qaeda or an associated group and poses an imminent threat to the United States. The document defines "imminent threat" expansively, saying it does not have to be based on intelligence about a specific attack because such actions are being "continually" planned by al-Qaeda. The memo was written months before a September 2011 drone strike in Yemen that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Muslim cleric accused of helping al-Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate plan attacks against the United States. The Obama administration, in decisions upheld in federal court rulings, has repeatedly denied demands by lawmakers, civil rights groups and the media to release the memo and other information on targeted killings - or even to acknowledge their existence. Senators are expected to closely question Brennan on drone strikes, the memo and the Awlaki killing during his confirmation hearing. The 16-page document is titled "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who Is a Senior Operational Leader of al-Qaeda or An Associated Force." In announcing Awlaki's death, Obama described him as the leader of "external affairs" of Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday night called the document a "profoundly disturbing" summary of "a stunning overreach of executive authority - the claimed power to declare Americans a threat and kill them far from a recognized battlefield and without any judicial involvement before or after the fact."