Obama administration opposes release of Cheney records in Valerie Plame case

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Obama administration officials are pressuring a US judge to stop the release of former US Vice President Dick Cheney’s records in the case of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame. Plame sought compensation after she was publicly named as a secret CIA operative. Along with her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, she has fought a legal campaign, arguing that several Bush administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, and even President George W. Bush himself, were behind the leak of her CIA role. Cheney had a lengthy interview with prosecutors pursuing the leak case, but the transcripts of the exchange have so far remained secret, on national security grounds. Last week, the Department of Justice argued that they should remain secret for at least another five to ten years, in order to assure other government officials that the privacy of their testimony will be respected if they decide to participate in future investigations. But critics allege that the Justice Department’s real aim is to prevent the publication of information in Cheney’s interview that points to George Bush as the source of the incriminating leak. US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who is initially responsible for deciding whether Cheney’s interview records should remain secret, has already said he expects the government to appeal if he rules in favor of releasing the transcripts.