For whatever reason, I'd prefer comments to this version. Note: I actually agree with the OP about pulling the logic into named conditionals whenever possible, but in the case you do want the short-circuiting behavior I would not bother with the variables at that point.

  if (loggedIn() && hasRole(ROLE_ADMIN)) {
    // User has permission to do this
    if (data != null && validate(data)) {
      // Submitted data is valid
      ...
    }
  }