As a first step into ascertaining the legal accountability of top Bush Administration officials, A Spanish court has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of international law violations. The 6 Bush administration officials are accused of providing the legal framework that permitted torture and mistreatment of prisoners in the campaign against terrorism. Defenders of the officials have said their legal analyses and policy work on interrogation practices were conducted under great pressure after the 2001 terrorist attacks, and are now being unfairly second-guessed after many years without a terrorist attack on the United States. John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Convention, defended his work and warned that the Obama administration risked harming national security if it punished lawyers like himself.