Chief of Staff, and former legal counsel, to Dick Cheney.
War crime charge(s):
Complicity in the commission of a war crime – torture, ill-treatment of detainees.
Helped write the policy papers justifying torture and maintaining that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to detainees at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib (http://www.nndb.com/people/575/000107254/). Helped to shape an August 2002 opinion from the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that said torture might be justified in some cases. Principal author of November 2001 memo establishing military commissions. Advised on March 2003 memo justifying torture.
Primary Association:
Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy Studies, Heritage Foundation, Washington DC
"I can’t talk to you, al Qaeda may watch C-SPAN." Avoiding answering questions in Congressional hearing about torture.
"You could look and see mouths moving. I infer that there was communication going on." (Describing an interrogation he had witnessed at Guantanamo Bay before Congressional hearing.)
Chief of Staff to the Vice President,Oct. 31, 2005 - Jan. 20, 2009
Like his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, Addington appears to have had a hand in virtually every aspect of the Bush administration’s torture program. He opposed recognizing the rights of detainees under the Geneva Conventions. He played a major role in shaping the August 2002 torture memos. And he reportedly influenced the course of interrogations taking place at Guantanamo Bay during a September 2002 visit with senior administration lawyers. More generally, and as a member of the self-styled “War Council” composed of top Bush administration lawyers, Addington plotted the legal strategy of the Bush administration in its “war on terror.” Addington also reportedly sought to exclude military service lawyers who would object to that strategy, including torture and other rights violations from Bush administration deliberations.*
The Culpable 
Name: David Addington