What he did then: General Counsel, Department of Defense

What he does now: General Counsel, Department of Defense; also nominated to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4 th Circuit

Reported involvement: As the Defense Department general counsel, Haynes also advised Rumsfeld on the selection of Guantanamo, and his office worked closely with the Justice Department to advance an expansive view of executive power to detain combatants that was repudiated by the Supreme Court in June 2004. News reports indicate that Haynes requested and supervised the now-infamous Defense Department torture memo, which built on the legal analysis performed by the Justice Department in its August 2002 memo to allow for interrogation techniques like stress positions, sleep deprivation, and the use of dogs.

Photograph of William J. Haynes II by Scott Davis/Photographer Showcase.