Last night, in a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) against the Department of Justice seeking former Vice President Cheney’s FBI interview in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed papers, including a declaration from Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. Embracing the same arguments made by the Bush administration for withholding the interview, DOJ argues if it is disclosed, future high-level White House officials will be unwilling to cooperate with criminal law enforcement investigations. The documents from the case can be seen here.

According to Mr. Breuer, it is “not uncommon” for prosecutors to inform witnesses the government will try to keep the information they provide confidential. But Mr. Breuer ignores the fact that here Mr. Cheney was never promised confidentiality, as Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald confirmed in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), then Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Mr. Breuer also argues if Mr. Cheney’s interview is made public, future high-level White House officials will be unwilling or at least “reluctant” to cooperate in criminal investigations. He suggests such officials will testify only if subpoenaed, possibly “thwart[ing] investigations.” Yet DOJ has subpoenaed White House officials in the past without such repercussions.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said:

It is astonishing that a top Department of Justice political appointee is suggesting other high-level appointees are unlikely to cooperate with legitimate law enforcement investigations. What is wrong with this picture?

What is wrong, indeed.

An editorial in today's New York Times makes an important point about Dick Cheney's newfound interest in transparency:

When he was vice president, Dick Cheney never acknowledged the public’s right to know anything. Now, suddenly, he has the full disclosure bug. He told Fox News this week that President Obama’s decision to release memos written by the Bush Justice Department authorizing the abuse and torture of detainees inspired him to ask the Central Intelligence Agency to release transcripts of those interrogations.

While Cheney has the "full disclosure bug" and is urging the release of transcripts, we'd like to add one more to his request:  Cheney's interview with the FBI about the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.  

As we noted yesterday, CREW made a FOIA request to the Bush administration's Department of Justice for that interview, which was denied.  We're asking the Obama administration to release it.  So far, no response.  But, since Cheney thinks releasing transcripts involving the CIA is important and appropriate, it's should now be a no-brainer to give us his FBI interview.

In 2008, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), CREW sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) for failing to turn over former Vice President Cheney’s FBI interview regarding the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity.

No surprise, the Bush administration had refused to disclose the interview even though Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had never promised Cheney confidentiality and the criminal investigation is over.  When the administration changed, President Obama expressed a commitment to transparency and accountability and Attorney General Eric Holder followed up with a memo to agencies requiring greater responsiveness to FOIA requests.

CREW's Anne Weismann talked to reporter Keith Thomson about the missing White House emails and the comparison to Watergate.  Mr. Thomson wrote it up at Huffington Post:

Perhaps the most frequently-asked question about Watergate is: "How could the conspirators have been so foolish, gabbing away even though they knew the tape recorder was on?" The answer: They were human, and, as such, erred.

Anne Weisman, chief counsel for the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, compared the infamous gap in the Nixon-Haldeman Oval Office tape to the 14 million White House e-mails from March 2003 to October 2005 that were missing during the investigation of the Valerie Plame CIA leak, when they might have yielded a smoking gun.

"The Watergate Tapes had an eighteen-and-a-half minute gap where [Nixon secretary] Rosemary Woods did whatever she did," Weisman told me. "We're talking here about a gap of at least fourteen million e-mails."

After eight long years of secrecy, on his first full day in office, President Obama issued several executive orders signaling a new era in government openness and accountability.  CREW has worked tirelessly to obtain vital information from the Bush administration.  Often, our efforts were blocked.  But, that can change.  We know which documents and records should be available.  Today, CREW called on the Obama administration to fulfill its commitment to transparency by releasing records withheld from public view by the Bush administration, specifically:

The Department of Justice should release documents related to the interview of former Vice President Cheney provided to the FBI as part of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity;

The Secret Service should release all requested White House visitor records and remove the veil of secrecy that currently surrounds the White House;

The White House should release all documents that explain why the Bush administration refused to act for years in the face of an internal report documenting the mysterious disappearance of millions of emails from White House servers;

The White House should release all documents that explain why the Bush administration refused to implement an effective electronic record keeping system in the face of evidence that its current system was an abysmal failure, notwithstanding the development of two other workable systems;

The White House should release documents requested by Congress that explain the full role of President Bush and his staff in the mass firings of U.S. Attorneys;

The Department of Homeland Security should release all documents explaining why the Bush administration decided to bypass property of Ray L. Hunt, a major contributor to the Bush presidential library, in its sitting decision for the border fence between the United States and Mexico;

The White House should release all documents of the Council on Environmental Quality related to the efforts of the Bush administration to distort scientific conclusions, warnings, and predictions on climate change.

CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan said today:

Signing an executive order signaling openness is one thing, actually releasing documents is another. This the perfect opportunity for the Obama administration to back up its words with concrete action.

Dick Cheney is upset with his former boss, George W. Bush.  Cheney wanted his former Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, to get a full pardon.  Bush didn't do it and Cheney isn't happy:  

Just one day after leaving the White House, former vice president Dick Cheney publicly broke with his boss of eight years, saying he disagreed with Bush's decision not to pardon convicted felon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff.

After Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for his role in the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to the news media, Bush commuted his prison term, a move he later described as "fair and balanced." But he refused to pardon Libby, a decision that angered many of Bush's supporters -- including, we now know, Cheney.

In an interview Wednesday with Stephen F. Hayes, a writer for the conservative Weekly Standard and author of a Cheney biography, the former vice president said: "Obviously, I disagree with President Bush's decision."

Cheney added, "Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and honorable men I've ever known. He's been an outstanding public servant throughout his career. He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon."

CREW represents former covert CIA officer Valerie Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in their lawsuit against Bush administration officials.  Today, they issued a statement in response to Karl Rove latest assertions about the deliberate leak of Valerie Wilson's classified CIA status to reporters:

In a December 7th interview discussing his upcoming tell-all book with Cox News, Karl Rove asserted that it was Richard Armitage, not he, who was responsible for the betrayal of CIA covert officer Valerie Plame Wilson.  As usual, he shades the truth. 

On July 17, 2005, Matthew Cooper, then of Time magazine, wrote that on July 11, 2003, Mr. Rove told him “[Ms. Wilson] worked at the ‘agency’,” and by that, he told the Grand Jury investigating the Wilson leak, he “inferred that [Mr. Rove] obviously meant the CIA and not, say, the Environmental Protection Agency.”  Cooper continued, “Mr. Rove added that she worked on ‘WMD’ issues and that she was responsible for sending [Ambassador] Wilson.

This was three days before the publication of Robert Novak’s infamous article.  Mr. Novak himself later confirmed that Mr. Rove was his second source, again before the publication of the article. Irrespective of Mr. Armitage’s role in Ms. Wilson’s betrayal, it is irrefutable that Mr. Rove was also independently leaking her name to members of the press prior to publication of Mr. Novak’s article.  He is also responsible for her betrayal.

We would welcome Mr. Rove’s authorizing the release of his interviews with Special Counsel Fitzgerald and his testimony before the Grand Jury. The public deserves the whole truth of Mr. Rove’s involvement.  President Bush once said he regretted Mr. Rove’s lack of candor.  So do we.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the dismissal of Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Richard Armitage.  Plame is considering an appeal:

Melanie Sloan, Plame's attorney at the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Plame was considering an appeal.

"It is simply unacceptable for top government officials to be unaccountable for such a gross abuse of their power," Sloan said.

The lawsuit named former presidential adviser Karl Rove; Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Armitage was the original source for a 2003 newspaper column identifying Plame as a CIA officer. At the time, her husband was criticizing the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq and had become a thorn in the side of the White House. Rove also discussed Plame's employment with reporters.

The leak touched off a lengthy investigation that resulted in Libby's conviction for obstruction and lying to investigators. Jurors found that he told reporters about Plame and lied about it to the FBI and a federal grand jury. Bush commuted Libby's sentence before he ever served a day in prison.

The current Attorney General is running into some of the same problems the former Attorney General had.  And, those problems persist throughout the Bush administration.  Congress wants information. Nothing happens.  Rep. Waxman is raising the specter of contempt against Mukasey:

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Tuesday threatened Attorney General Michael Mukasey with a contempt citation unless he provides the panel with documents related to the leak of the name of a CIA operative.

Waxman’s committee issued a subpoena last month requesting the reports of FBI interviews with President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

“You have neither complied with this subpoena by its returnable date nor asserted any privilege to justify withholding documents from the committee,” Waxman wrote in a letter to Mukasey. “In light of your actions, I am writing to inform you that the committee will meet on July 16, 2008, to consider a resolution citing you for contempt of Congress. I strongly urge you to comply with the duly issued subpoena before then.”