JURIST - Paper Chase: Ex-press secretary McClellan denies administration cover-up of CIA name leak

[JURIST] Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan [appointment release] testified Friday that he was unaware of any criminal wrongdoing [hearing materials] by administration officials who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive]. Appearing before the US House Judiciary Committee [official website], McClellan said that he was unaware of any attempts by administration officials to cover up the leak, but that unwarranted secrecy and attempts to avoid accountability were to blame for lingering questions. McClellan said he regretted the false information that he unwittingly relayed to media regarding the scandal. AP has more.

In December 2007, the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to provide them with transcripts [JURIST report] of interviews with President Bush and other administration officials that were conducted during a criminal investigation into the leak. The White House has consistently refused to turn over information [JURIST report] relating to the investigation claiming immunity from the Freedom of Information Act [text]. In June of 2007, Vice President Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison for perjury and other offenses related to the investigation before his sentence was commuted by President Bush in commuted his sentence [JURIST reports] in July of that year.

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