Ignored warnings by Criminal Investigative Task Force (CITF) of DoD and other military officials that what was going on in Guantanamo was cruel and unlawful.
William J. "Jim" Haynes II (born March 30, 1958 in Waco, Texas) is an American lawyer, and former General Counsel of the United States Department of Defense during president George W. Bush's administration. Haynes resigned as General Counsel in February 2008. From 2003 until 2007, he was a nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Haynes graduated from Davidson College and Harvard Law School. He has been General Counsel of the Department of the Army, a partner with the law firm of Jenner & Block, and an associate general counsel of General Dynamics Corporation.
Left to Right: Steven Bradbury, William J. Haynes, Jay Bybee, Robert Eatinger
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
William “Jim” Haynes, DOD, General Counsel
May 24, 2001 - Feb. 2008
As Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s legal adviser, Haynes facilitated the military’s harsh and abusive interrogation of detainees. Along with other members of the self-styled “War Council” of senior administration lawyers, Haynes strenuously opposed recognizing the rights of detainees under the Geneva Conventions. His office solicited and recommended the use of methods that would “exploit” detainees in U.S. custody from a DOD program established to help U.S. forces withstand torture. He visited Guantanamo in September 2002 with Addington, Gonzales and Haynes and observed interrogations. He also supported the gruesome, 50-plus day interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani. In a November 27, 2002 action memo, he recommended that Rumsfeld approve harsh interrogation techniques despite the meager legal analysis offered in support.
Haynes also solicited from the Office of Legal Counsel the torture memo of March 14, 2003, authored by John Yoo. He then insisted that Rumsfeld’s January 2003 working group on interrogations be bound by the flawed analysis contained within Yoo’s torture memo, and overrode the legal and policy objections of top military service lawyers. The working group’s final report was issued without the dissenting military service lawyers’ knowledge, and recommended that Rumsfeld approve numerous abusive interrogation techniques. Like Rumsfeld, Haynes stood by the military’s interrogation policies despite continuously mounting evidence of abuse at the hands of military interrogators.*