Chevron lawyer faces Spanish probe
"The Bottom Line", SFGate.com
More discomfort for San Ramon's Chevron Corp. and its chief corporate counsel, William J. Haynes II.
Spanish prosecutors are considering whether to bring criminal charges against Haynes, the Defense Department's former general counsel, and other members of the Bush administration, for their connection to detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay.
Haynes, as we itemized in December, figures prominently in a critical Senate Armed Services committee report on the subject. Earlier this month, the San Francisco chapter of the leftist National Lawyers Guild called on the State Bay of California to disbar, suspend or otherwise sanction Haynes for his reported role. We're seeking comment from Haynes and/or Chevron.
Two other Bay Area-connected figures are also targets of the Spanish probe: UC Berkeley law professor, John Yoo, the author of numerous memos on interrogation techniques when he was Justice Department counsel, and Jay S. Bybee, another former Justice Department official who is now a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Probably of most immediate concern to Haynes is whether to risk traveling abroad, where he could be served with an arrest warrant should the Spanish court choose to proceed.
 | March 30 2009
