Leak prosecutor partially supports request to release description of probe



WASHINGTON (AP) -- The prosecutor in the CIA leak case on Dec. 2 opposed public release of some details about the criminal investigation, while supporting the disclosure of information regarding I. Lewis Libby, the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

In court papers, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said continued secrecy is not necessary with respect to portions of a federal appeals court ruling from 10 months ago that "directly relate to Mr. Libby." Libby was indicted Oct. 28 on five counts of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI.

Secrecy is necessary for other material in the court ruling to protect witnesses or subjects of the investigation from public embarrassment or ridicule "as well as to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation," Fitzgerald argued.

Deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove remains under criminal investigation. The probe is investigating who in the Bush administration leaked the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame to the news media.

Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, is seeking release of redacted portions of an appeals court decision from Feb. 15, 2005. In it, Judge David Tatel affirmed that New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper were in contempt of court for refusing to testify in Fitzgerald's investigation. Both subsequently testified.

In the months before the courts moved against Miller and Cooper, the prosecutor provided the federal judiciary detailed descriptions of the investigation's progress, and some of those details became part of Tatel's written opinion. The investigative material was removed from the opinion before it was released.

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