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.

As a result, on April 8, 2009, CREW sent a letter to DOJ asking the department to reconsider its opposition to CREW’s FOIA request, but the department has failed to reply.  Our letter is here.

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said:

The Justice Department is sitting on a document that could clear up – once and for all – the question of whether Vice President Cheney was responsible for revealing the covert identity of Valerie Wilson. What interest could the Obama administration possibly have in keeping this information secret?