Meanwhile, new evidence suggests the Bush administration forced out a senior Justice Department official who declared waterboarding a form of torture after experiencing it firsthand. According to ABC News, former Acting Assistant Attorney General Dan Levin was so concerned about the White House’s approval of waterboarding that he went to a military base to undergo it himself in 2004. Levin was tasked with reworking the administration’s legal position on torture at the time. He concluded that waterboarding is likely illegal torture unless performed in a limited way under close supervision. The findings were to be included in a memo laying out the administration’s new stance on torture. But Levin never got to complete his report as he was forced out of his job.