Former L.A. church leader fired from post at San Francisco church

The Rev. John J. Hunter, who last fall was abruptly reassigned from First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in Los Angeles, has been fired from his post at a San Francisco church.

"I hereby immediately relieve you of the pastoral charge of Bethel AME Church," Bishop Larry T. Kirkland wrote in a letter to Hunter dated Friday. "You will have no further contact with that congregation in an official capacity."

Hunter could not immediately be reached for comment.

In January, the judicial body of the African Methodist Episcopal Church denied Hunter's petition to return to First AME, the storied black church in Los Angeles.

Hunter was moved after a controversial eight-year tenure in L.A. that was clouded by a federal tax investigation, a sexual harassment lawsuit and the questionable use of $122,000 in church credit cards.

Hunter, who was moved from First AME in October, challenged his reassignment to Bethel AME after that congregation rejected him. He maintains that his rights as a minister were violated, saying Kirkland moved him to a smaller church without the proper 90-day notice and without reason.

The church's governing book states that a "new appointment, when available, shall be comparable to or better than the previous one." First AME has a congregation of 19,000; Bethel AME's membership is 650.

The nine members on the council — the denomination's equivalent of the Supreme Court — ruled Feb. 1 that Hunter skipped steps in the judicial process by petitioning them first. They denied his appeal because Hunter did not follow the proper chain of command.

Meanwhile, Hunter has filed a civil lawsuit against church leaders in San Francisco for physically barring him from taking the pulpit.

The suit, which alleges assault, battery, libel and emotional distress, is the latest in Hunter's public battle with members of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination. The 55-year-old pastor is seeking unspecified restitution exceeding $25,000.

In December, First AME filed a civil lawsuit against Hunter, alleging that he, his wife and a small "cabal" of church leaders misappropriated millions of dollars in church and nonprofit funds.

In his letter to Hunter, Kirkland said that "for a period not to exceed 90 days, you will be compensated at the base salary amount you would have received had you remained pastor of Bethel." He also noted that the arrangement could change pending the "outcome of the judicial proceeding against you, and/or if you agree to be assigned to another pastoral charge."

angel.jennings@latimes.com

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An Exhibition on Turkey’s Past Resonates

ISTANBUL — Two galleries in this city’s old European quarter recently opened exhibitions that showcase the political violence that convulsed the country in the 1970s. The echoes for contemporary Turkey were unmistakable.

On one wall are rows of old newspapers that chronicled through blaring headlines and grainy photographs the bloody street fighting and chaotic demonstrations that culminated in a military coup in 1980.

“Socialist revolution can only be achieved in Turkey through armed victory,” is how one newspaper of the time described the aims of a radical left-wing group that promised to use “revolutionary terror” and “urban chaos” to realize Marxist rule.

That bloody past burst violently into the present with last week’s suicide bombing of the American Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Initially assumed by many to be the work of Islamic extremists, the attack was quickly traced by the authorities to a man who sneaked into the country by boat from a Greek island in the Aegean Sea and was linked to a homegrown left-wing extremist group whose roots lie in the tumult of the ’70s.

As such, the bombing — even though it struck an American target and was motivated in part by American policy in the Middle East — revealed more about modern Turkey, its violent past and potential for instability than it did about the United States’ war on terror.

“This was no Benghazi,” wrote Ross Wilson, a former American ambassador to Turkey, in an online column for the Atlantic Council, referring to last year’s attack by Islamic extremists on a diplomatic outpost in Libya that resulted in the death of the American ambassador and three others.

For Turkey, the attack was an unpleasant reminder that despite a decade of reforms under the current ruling party, which is rooted in political Islam and headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has yet to fully emerge from its dark past. Coming at a time when Turkey, with its prosperous economy and political stability, is trying to present itself as a model for countries convulsed by the Arab Spring revolutions, the attack served for many Turks as a reminder of the work left to put their own house in order.

“I think what people have forgotten, because of what happened here in the last 10 years, was how violent Turkish politics used to be,” said Gerald Knaus, of the European Stability Initiative, a policy research organization based in Istanbul. “In the last 10 years Turkey tried to emerge from this period of political violence and confront the skeletons in its closet. But we’ve forgotten how many skeletons there were.”

The attack also underscored how Turkey’s rulers sometimes use those skeletons to justify a growing crackdown on dissent, particularly with a campaign against the news media that has Turkey as the world’s leading jailer of journalists — more even than China or Iran.

“If the activist who blew himself up today had possessed a press card, they would have called him a journalist,” Mr. Erdogan said in comments broadcast on Turkish television shortly after the bombing last week that were immediately condemned by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

Before the attack, Turkish security forces rounded up nearly 100 people accused of ties to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front, the organization the perpetrator belonged to, among them journalists, lawyers, even members of a rock band. The arrests were condemned by human rights groups as another example of Turkey’s broad use of antiterrorism laws to crack down on domestic opponents, particularly journalists and human rights lawyers, with no links to violent activities.

“Turkey’s overbroad antiterrorism laws have been used against an ever-widening circle of people charged for nonviolent political activities and the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, association and assembly,” Human Rights Watch wrote in a report condemning many of the arrests.

Efkan Bolac, a member of the Contemporary Lawyers Association, was detained in that roundup but was released for lack of evidence.

“A lawyer doesn’t become a rapist if he represents one, or a drug dealer if he represents one,” Mr. Bolac said. “They claim we are members of a terror group, but how is that possible when we spend our entire time at courthouses?”

This week the American ambassador to Turkey, Francis J. Ricciardone Jr., said the F.B.I. was investigating the attack and suggested that the Justice Department might prosecute the group that carried out the bombing.

Yet the attack seemed out of another time and carried a whiff of cold-war-era intrigue, when links between the C.I.A. and Turkey were central to efforts by the United States to counter Soviet influence in the region. It also upended the conventional narrative about modern terrorism. “You’d think 10 years after the war on terror things would be clearer rather than more obfuscated,” said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University.

In his column in The Hurriyet Daily News, Nihat Ali Ozcan, a security specialist at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara, likened the attack to a “cold-war-style proxy war” that he speculated was the work of Syria, given the historical links between the group and Syrian intelligence. His observation was reminiscent of the paranoia of a bygone era. At one of the art galleries here, newspapers chronicled the 1977 May Day celebration in Istanbul, when leftist groups gathered for a demonstration that turned bloody.

“This attack is a provocation that links all the way to the C.I.A.,” one headline shrieked.

Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting.

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Minka Kelly: 'I'm Not Worthy' of Acting with Oprah

By Jennifer Cress

02/08/2013 at 07:40 PM EST

Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Pacific Coast News

It's intimidating enough to play Jackie O, but Minka Kelly felt even more pressure to perform when she found out who was joining the cast of her latest film, The Butler.

"I'm not worthy. I feel so lucky and grateful. I was like, 'What am I doing here?!' " Kelly tells PEOPLE of starring alongside Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Fonda and more in the upcoming film, which tells the story of a butler who served eight presidents.

The movie also features another major star: the one and only Oprah Winfrey. "I didn't get to meet Oprah because our shooting schedules were different, but she's a pretty loved lady," Kelly says. "I have yet to hear a bad thing about her!"

Kelly found that the most difficult part of playing Jackie Kennedy was nailing the former first lady's distinct accent. "I think she spoke in a way she thought she should speak, so getting that down was hard. There's a musicality and rhythm to the way she speaks," Kelly explains. "I went to sleep listening to her."

Another tough task? Slipping into the retro costumes. "My body is so different from her because I have curves, so fitting into those vintage clothes was actually really hard," she shares. "Also it was hot – and there was a lot of wool!"

Jennifer Graylock / Getty

But Kelly had no issue slipping into the stunning Oscar de la Renta gown (left) she strutted down the runway in at the Red Dress Collection fashion show in N.Y.C. on Wednesday night. The actress walked for the second year in a row in honor of The Heart Truth campaign, which encourages women to monitor their heart health.

For the month of February, Diet Coke will donate $1 for every person who uploads a heart-inspired photo to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #showyourheart. Visit to dietcoke.com/showyourheart for more information.

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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Dorner manhunt scares skiers away from Big Bear resorts

A massive manhunt in the Big Bear area for a former police officer suspected of killing three people is scaring off some visitors to nearby ski slopes just as resort operators were counting on fresh powder to help them rebound from an abysmal snow season last year.

More than 100 officers, many in tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons, continued the search Friday in the San Bernardino Mountains for former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner.

The Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski resorts opened as usual Friday morning after the manhunt forced the early closure of Bear Mountain on Thursday afternoon.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon defended the decision to reopen local ski resorts, saying an extensive search around the city found no evidence that Dorner was still in the area.

But the presence of so many law enforcement officers searching for a heavily armed suspect already scared off some day visitors, cutting ski business about 15%, resort officials said. Lodge operators were also reporting that nervous guests canceled reservations for weekend getaways.

"It's definitely slower than it would have been," said Brent Tregaskis, general manager of Bear Mountain. "That is the part of this that is a negative."

Some hard-core snow buffs refused to let the manhunt keep them off the slopes.

Matt Duncan, 23, of Anaheim Hills said he drove to Snow Summit to snowboard with three friends and found plenty of fresh powder and few crowds.

"It's the freshest of the fresh powder and there is no one here," he said.

As for the potential dangers of snowboarding amid an intense police search, Duncan was philosophical.

"We figure there is one crazy guy on the loose up here," he said. "If we were in L.A., how many crazy guys would be out on the loose there?"

Resort operators at Big Bear Lake also tried to find a silver lining Friday, saying the multitude of television news reports from the mountain means lots of people can see how much snow is falling on the slopes.

"The good news is millions of people are seeing that it's snowing," Tregaskis said.

Ski resort operators near Big Bear Lake are hoping business will rebound from last season, when meager snowfall around the nation was responsible for one of the worst ski seasons in decades.

"We definitely want to get the message out that we are open for business," said Dan McKernan, spokesman for the Big Bear Lake Resort Assn., a nonprofit group that promotes tourism around the lake.

Resorts nationwide drew 51 million skier and snowboarder visits last season, down 15.8% from the previous season and the second-biggest year-over-year decline on record, according to the National Ski Areas Assn., a trade group for resort operators.

In California, visits to ski resorts dropped 27% from the state's five-year average of 7.4 million per season.

The slopes near Big Bear Lake had already received 3 feet of snow so far this season. Low temperatures over the last month also have enabled resort operators to supplement the natural snow with man-made snow.

But the manhunt for Dorner intensified just as fresh powder began to fall at the start of what resort operators expected to be a busy ski weekend.

The latest storm is expected to drop up to 10 inches of snow on Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, according to the National Weather Service. Snow chains were required on some mountain roads Friday.

At the 98-unit Lagonita Lodge on the shore of Big Bear Lake, several guests canceled plans to stay the weekend, said Janice Jett, a front desk supervisor at the lodge.

"We've had several guests call, very nervous about coming to the area," she said.

At Snow Summit Townhouse Rentals, one guest who was nervous about bringing his daughters to the mountain postponed his weekend visit for another time, said Jaimee Estrada, an employee at the business. Still, about half the 47 rentals are booked this weekend, she said.

"We've had a lot of people call to ask if it's OK to come up, is it safe, are the roads open," Estrada said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

phil.willon@latimes.com

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World Briefing | Europe: Lasagna Products Test Positive for Horsemeat in Britain

British authorities say beef lasagna products recalled from British supermarkets by the frozen-food company Findus have tested positive for more than 60 percent horsemeat. The revelation comes after millions of burgers were taken off shop shelves this month as it emerged that beef products from three companies in Ireland and Britain contained horse DNA. The Food Standards Agency said Thursday that its tests on Findus’s beef lasagna were part of an investigation into mislabeled meat and that there was no evidence the results posed a food safety risk.

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Kris Humphries: Why He Won't Divorce Kim Kardashian

02/07/2013 at 07:00 PM EST

Despite Kim Kardashian's pressing for a divorce, Kris Humphries deeply believes their 72-day marriage should be annulled and he won't give up the fight, a source tells PEOPLE.

"Kris only wants an annulment," says the source close to Humphries. "He never wanted to be married more than once and he feels like she cheated him out of the chance to have a real, loving marriage."

The Brooklyn Nets forward is also not sympathetic to Kardashian's pleas to end the battle for the sake of the baby she's having with boyfriend Kanye West, adds the source.

"He feels that even if she's pregnant, she still has to deal with the mess she made," the source says. "He thinks their entire marriage was a fraud, and he's not going to just give up because of the situation."

Kardashian, who says she's due to deliver in early July, is asking a judge to start a divorce trial as soon as possible or at the very least to have their marriage legally dissolved while they litigate other issues.

"There was no fraud on my part," she says in papers filed last month in L.A. Superior Court. "I wish this issue to be tried immediately so that this false claim can be put to rest and I can move on with my life."

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.

Blacks were five times more likely than whites to have the Southern dietary pattern linked with the highest stroke risk. And blacks and whites who live in the South were more likely to eat this way than people in other parts of the country were. Diet might explain as much as two-thirds of the excess stroke risk seen in blacks versus whites, researchers concluded.

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week.

Results were reported Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu.

The federally funded study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them. More than 20,000 people 45 or older — half of them black — from all 48 mainland states filled out food surveys and were sorted into one of five diet styles:

—Southern: Fried foods, processed meats (lunchmeat, jerky), red meat, eggs, sweet drinks and whole milk.

—Convenience: Mexican and Chinese food, pizza, pasta.

—Plant-based: Fruits, vegetables, juice, cereal, fish, poultry, yogurt, nuts and whole-grain bread.

—Sweets: Added fats, breads, chocolate, desserts, sweet breakfast foods.

—Alcohol: Beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, salad dressings, nuts and seeds, coffee.

"They're not mutually exclusive" — for example, hamburgers fall into both convenience and Southern diets, Judd said. Each person got a score for each diet, depending on how many meals leaned that way.

Over more than five years of follow-up, nearly 500 strokes occurred. Researchers saw clear patterns with the Southern and plant-based diets; the other three didn't seem to affect stroke risk.

There were 138 strokes among the 4,977 who ate the most Southern food, compared to 109 strokes among the 5,156 people eating the least of it.

There were 122 strokes among the 5,076 who ate the most plant-based meals, compared to 135 strokes among the 5,056 people who seldom ate that way.

The trends held up after researchers took into account other factors such as age, income, smoking, education, exercise and total calories consumed.

Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure — a known stroke risk factor, Judd said. And sweet drinks can contribute to diabetes, the disease that celebrity chef Paula Deen — the queen of Southern cuisine — revealed she had a year ago.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, drugmaker Amgen Inc. and General Mills Inc. funded the study.

"This study does strongly suggest that food does have an influence and people should be trying to avoid these kinds of fatty foods and high sugar content," said an independent expert, Dr. Brian Silver, a Brown University neurologist and stroke center director at Rhode Island Hospital.

"I don't mean to sound like an ogre. I know when I'm in New Orleans I certainly enjoy the food there. But you don't have to make a regular habit of eating all this stuff."

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Police on high alert after ex-LAPD cop's alleged serial shootings

Authorities across Southern California were on high alert Thursday morning as a massive manhunt was underway for an ex-Los Angeles police officer sought in connection with a double homicide and the shootings of three police officers, one of whom was killed.

Local, state and federal authorities are involved in the search for Christoper Jordan Dorner, 33, who is believed to threatened "unconventional
and asymmetrical warfare" against police in a manifesto posted on what authorities believe to be his Facebook page.

Dorner also threatened more than two dozen people -- including police officials -- in his manifesto. Officers from around Southern California have been deployed
to protect those people. In some cases, police said, those at risk have relocated for their safety.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

 LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is expected to hold a news conference at
10 a.m.

When asked if police felt they were under attack, Riverside Police Lt. Guy Toussaint said: “Based on the circumstances of the
shooting, yes I do.”

Hours after authorities announced they were looking for Dorner in connection with a double homicide in Orange County, the search intensified after three police officers were shot in Riverside County and Dorner was identified as a possible suspect.

Ex-LAPD cop tried to steal boat, flee to Mexico, authorities say

Freeway signs urged motorists to call 911 if they saw the suspect's vehicle as officers patrolled the streets near one of the Riverside County crime scenes with rifles at the ready. Los Angeles was put on a citywide tactical alert and California Highway Patrol issued a "blue alert" for nine Southern California counties warning Dorner was considered "armed and extremely dangerous."

The first shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. Thursday in Corona, where two Los
Angeles Police Department officers providing protection for
someone mentioned in Dorner's manifesto, officials said. One
officer suffered a graze wound to the head during a shootout and Dorner fled
the scene, police said.

A short time later, two Riverside officers were shot at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Arlington
Avenue in
Riverside. Toussaint said the officers were
sitting at a red light when they were ambushed. One was killed, the
other was still in surgery Thursday morning.

Ex-LAPD officer threatened to kill in online manifesto

There was no indication the officers were "actively seeking Dorner," Toussaint said.

“Our
officers were stopped at an intersection at a red light when they were
ambushed," he said. "Because of the close proximity to the timeline, we believe there is a
strong likelihood that former LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner was involved in
our incident.”

In the online manifesto, Dorner specifically named the father of
Monica Quan, the Cal State Fullerton assistant basketball coach who was
found dead Sunday in Irvine along with her fiance, Keith Lawrence.

Randy Quan, a retired LAPD captain, was involved in the review
process that ultimately led to Dorner’s dismissal. A former U.S. Navy
reservist, Dorner was fired in 2009 for allegedly making false
statements about his training officer. In the manifesto, he complained that Randy Quan and others did not fairly represent him at the review hearing.

“The violence of action will be high .... I will bring unconventional
and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off
duty," Dorner wrote.

As authorities swarmed the area, two officer-involved shootings occurred in Torrance after police came across vehicles they thought might be Dorner's.

The first Torrance incident occurred about 5:20 a.m. in the 19500
block of Redbeam Avenue in Torrance, Lt. Devin Chase said. That incident involved
Los Angeles police detectives from the Hollywood division, sources said.

Two people were struck by gunfire and transported to an area hospital with unknown injuries, Chase said. No officers were injured.

The second incident, which involved Torrance police officers,
occurred at Flagler Lane and Beryl Street about 5:45 a.m. No injuries
were reported in that incident.

Chase said both incidents involved vehicles matching the description of the one sought in connection with Dorner.

"Now it appears neither of them are directly related," Chase said. "In both of them, officers believed they were at the time."

Authorities said they believe Dorner attempted to steal a boat from an elderly man about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday
at the Point Loma Yacht Club in San Diego, hours before the shootings in
Riverside County.

The boat owner reported being accosted by a burly man who tied him up, threatened
him with a gun and said he wanted the boat to flee to Mexico.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

But while they were trying to get underway, a rope became entangled
in the propeller and the boat was inoperable, authorities said.

The suspect fled the scene and the boat owner was unharmed.

About 2 a.m., a citizen reported finding property belonging to Dorner
on a street near Lindbergh Field, not far from the scene of the
attempted boat theft. The property included a briefcase and Dorner's
LAPD badge.

ALSO:

Riverside police 'ambushed' by shooter, official says

Police shoot two in Torrance in search for ex-LAPD cop

Manhunt underway for ex-LAPD officer suspected of shooting 3 cops

— Andrew Blankstein, Kate Mather, Phil Willon and Tony Perry

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Obama Orders Release of Drone Memos to Lawmakers

WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday directed the Justice Department to release classified documents discussing the legal justification for the use of drones in targeting American citizens abroad who are considered terrorist to the two Congressional intelligence committees, according to an administration official.

The White House announcement appears to refer to a long, detailed 2010 memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel justifying the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric who had joined Al Qaeda in Yemen. He was killed in a C.I.A. drone strike in September 2011. Members of Congress have long demanded access to the legal memorandum.

The decision to release the legal memos to the intelligence committees came under pressure, two days after a bipartisan group of 11 senators joined a growing chorus asking for more information about the legal justification for targeted killings, especially of Americans. The announcement also came on the eve of the confirmation hearing scheduled for Thursday for John O. Brennan, President Obama’s choice to be director of the C.I.A. As Mr. Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, Mr. Brennan has been the chief architect of the drone program, and he is expected to be closely questioned about it at the hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Critics noted that in 2009, Mr. Obama had ordered the public release of the classified memos governing C.I.A. interrogations under President George W. Bush and accused Mr. Obama of hypocrisy. Administration officials replied that the so-called enhanced interrogations had been stopped, while drone strikes continue.

Until Wednesday night, the administration had refused to even officially acknowledge the existence of the documents, which have been reported about in the press. This week, NBC News obtained an unclassified, shorter legal memo, described as a “white paper,” that officials said described the legal framework that officials follow in using the drones.

Administration officials said Mr. Obama had decided to take the action — which they described as extraordinary — out of a desire to involve Congress in the development of the legal framework for the use of drones. Aides noted that Mr. Obama had made a pledge to do that during an appearance on “The Daily Show” last year.

“Today, as part of the president’s ongoing commitment to consult with Congress on national security matters, the president directed the Department of Justice to provide the congressional Intelligence committees access to classified Office of Legal Counsel advice related to the subject of the Department of Justice White Paper,” the administration official said.

The official said that members of the intelligence committees would now get “access” to the documents. It remained unclear what kind of access that would be.

Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, called the president’s move “a small step in the right direction.” But he noted that the legal memo or memos were not being shared with either of the armed services committees, which have jurisdiction over Pentagon strikes, or the judiciary committees, which oversee the Justice Department.

The public should be permitted to see at least a redacted version of the relevant memos, Mr. Anders said. “Everyone has a right to know when the government believes it can kill Americans and others,” he said.

The Congressional intelligence committees were created in the late 1970s to exercise oversight after a series of scandals at the spy agencies. The law requires that the committees be kept informed of intelligence activities. But most administrations withhold at least some legal opinions, treating them as confidential legal advice to the president and agency officials.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, had proposed a clause for the annual intelligence authorization bill requiring that legal opinions on relevant matters be routinely shared with the committees. But the White House objected, and the measure was dropped from the bill.

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