Judge Probing Cheney's CIA Leak Role

Federal Judge Asks To See FBI's Notes From Interview With Ex-VP From Plame Investigation

(AP)  A federal judge said Thursday that he wants to look at notes from the FBI's interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's decision to review the documents followed arguments by Obama administration lawyers that sounded much like the reasons the Bush administration provided for keeping Cheney's interview from the public.

Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.

"If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren't going to cooperate," Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. "I don't want a future vice president to say, `I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show."'

Sullivan said the Justice Department must give him more precise reasons for keeping the information confidential than they had in previous court filings.

Cheney agreed to talk to FBI agents in June 2004 as they were investigating the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters the year before. Her name was revealed after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The leak touched off a lengthy inquiry that led to Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, being convicted on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. During his trial, jurors found that Libby lied to the FBI and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters. Bush commuted Libby's sentence, and he never served prison time.

Libby was the only person charged in the case. No one was charged with leaking Wilson's name.

In July 2008, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department seeking records related to Cheney's interview in the investigation. The Justice Department declined to turn over the records, and CREW filed a lawsuit in August.

The Justice Department reported in court filings that it found three documents totaling 67 pages that related to the watchdog group's FOIA request, but said the documents were exempt since they were part of a law enforcement matter and their release could interfere with future cases. They also said the interview contained classified material and that presidential communications were shielded to allow candor with the president and his advisers.

CREW argued that the public has a right to know the role that Cheney played in the leak and why he was not prosecuted.

Libby told the FBI in 2003 that it was possible that Cheney ordered him to reveal Plame's identity to reporters. The prosecutor in that case, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, said in his closing remarks at Libby's trial that there was a "cloud" over Cheney's role in the case.

Fitzgerald told members of Congress who also sought the information that Cheney set no conditions about the use of his interview with investigators.

A Cheney spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.

[skyk-2009]

by mrs_trepidatious June 19, 2009 6:10 AM PDT
We have one liberal, its called voting like how we are all going to vote Obama out in the 2010 elections!

Uh Huh! LOL First you have to HAVE a party to run against him.... second he's not up for election until 2012. Now at the rate the Republican Party is fading into history, what is it 25% of the total public is Republican now, there won't be enough outside the South to even be a national Party. RIGHT now, if you look at the 25% figure the VAST Majority of it is in the Stupid South. In most other states they are in the Teens, maybe lower. Have you thought about maybe improving your Education... you could then at least post stuff that makes sense.

[skyk-2009]

by Mr-Man_007 June 19, 2009 5:50 AM PDT
Cheney should hold his head high. History will show Bush and Cheney to be two of the Greatest Leaders of The United States. I would not trade one Cheney for ten Obama's. History will show Obama to be a total failure.

I'm interested to know what you base that on? They were in charge when MORE American's died in an Attack on this nation than any in our history. They were WARNED about the Attack BEFORE it happened. They then failed to bring to justice the ones who took credit for that attack instead attacking the Wrong nation, a nation that had NOTHING what so ever to do with the attack on us. I don't know about YOUR neck of the woods man but from where I come, that's called getting your BUTT KICKED! Ain't NOTHING Great about Getting your Butt Kicked.

[amazedd]

This is more than barking up the wrong tree. This is like trying to charge Paul Revere with speeding. Or telling the guy from Troy to shut-up, because everybody is too fatigued and people just want to get some more shut-eye, after the celebration for the Trojan Horse.
Or, accusing the Surgeon General of wanting people to die, just to prove himself right.
Whatever, it's completely retarded and dangerous. Since, everybody knows, that should worse come to worse, we can always duck & cover, see?
But there's one thing you can be sure of, appeasement never did stop anyone from causing mischief, it only buys them time to make it much worse.

[steeepe]

Worrying about ridicule on TV is about the lamest argument that could possibly be made.

[Vet_Turner]

Let's hope that Obama does not cave on this one and let's the FBI do its job. Cheney is a war criminal, has lied to the FBI before, leaked top secret information from the CIA. Its time for the investigation to go forward.

[lloydbest1]

""If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren't going to cooperate," Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. "I don't want a future vice president to say, `I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show."'"

LAME!!

Outing Ms. Plame could have cost he her life for Gawd's sake. Doing it for no better reason than political revenge only aggrivates the offense.
I think there should be full disclosure of what Mr. Cheney told the agent and if it is as bad as I suspect it is, if he gets no worse than a Letterman roasting, then he should consider himself a very lucky man.

[abbe91]

They always mention Ms Plame. Actually, it was the whole Brewster-Jennings front which was outed and it might very well have cost more than one life. Brewster-Jennings main operations were about WMD proliferation and focused on Iran. But sometimes, reliable intelligence has been the least concern of the Bush administration.

[babooph]

Only a very powerful propaganda system could get two such low grade fools in the highest offices-[Bush & Cheney],almost any other choice was better-Even Craig.

[stevex47]

Is this FINALLY going to get investigated? Or is it going to be like the Iranians investigate voting?

Outting a CIA agent is Treason. You either want justice for Treason or not.

[iam4honesty]

I hope there is a public hanging. I'll travel as far as I have to watch.

[briannorwood]

Why are we still hearing about Baron Harkonnen?--by nextgenman09 June 19, 2009 1:57 AM PDT

---

It's all about the spice...er...I mean oil!

[bmirarck2]

Hang this SOB!!!

[inventagod]

Wa$hingtoon is a hotbed of sleeze, but The Cheney Gang was the worst we have ever seen. It is time America freed itself from the chains of greedy Republicons, and put these bad boys behind bars. Torture, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, wars without end for rich defense creeps - the whole mess! History will not be kind to these traitors.

[SanityPlease]

BUSH/CHENEY brought Americans to their economic knees with their plunder of the treasury, their corruption in legislation, they abused the courts and destroyed America's credibility worldwide. A TOTAL DISASTER OF AN ADMINISTRATION.

[zeitmin77]

Typical political vendetta in the face of all those burning problems.

[mrs_trepidatious]

Leave Mr Cheney alone you liberals, he is an honest and decent man!

[CGSuddeath]

You sir are deluded

[bigsk8fan]

anyone who outs the identity of america's own cia operative should be shot for treason. if that means shooting cheney, then so be it. he didn't hesitate to shoot his own friend!

[johndevinejr]

It's about time.

[pollroller1]

The sad thing is that Cheney will never do any jail time for what he did. Our new president will give him a full pardon.
Dick Cheney is one of the biggest scum bags on the planet, but he will never do any jail time.

[leogorky]

It's disheartening to learn over and over again how crooked our elected officials are. They really need a watchdog group to monitor their behaviors; they seem incapable of doing it themselves, and are, in fact, untrustworthy. As a result, I don't trust any of them from either party; it's basically about who will do you the least harm in their dishonesty. Sorry, mrs trepdatious, we liberals don't hunt witches...that is the favorite activity of christians and conservatives...after all, you really don't like anyone who is different from you in any way.

[mrs_trepidatious]

We have one liberal, its called voting like how we are all going to vote Obama out in the 2010 elections!

[mrs_trepidatious]

This is an obvious liberal witch hunt and a travesty of justice!

[skyk-2009]

How so exactly? Are you saying the FBI interviews should not be made public? When we stop the right of the public to know what a witness to a crime or and investigation said, the right to know what he's memory of the event was, don't we take away the Peoples rights under our Constitution? We are supposed to have an OPEN System of Justice under our Constitution and unless the safety of the witness is called into question I don't see how anyone could be against this. I have a suspicion your are in the Fringe Right and feel that as select group should have a separate system than the rest. You can bet the family farm that IF I were accused or were a witness and had to testify, you and all the fanatics like you would be howling at the top of your lungs if I wasn't put out in print. Now wouldn't you?

[iam4honesty]

Arrest, try, convict, execute!!!!