Plame case interview transcripts sought

WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department readied a response Wednesday to renewed calls from House investigators seeking information on the Valerie Plame CIA leak case.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Tuesday demanded transcripts of interviews conducted with President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney by a special counsel investigating the case, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In the case, former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity was leaked to the press in 2003 in what some say was an attempt to discredit her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a prominent Iraq war critic. Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Plame case, but Cheney and former White House adviser Karl Rove, whom some suspect orchestrated the leak, were not charged.

Waxman said Tuesday he wanted to see unedited transcripts of interviews with the president and vice president conducted by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in December.

"The Justice Department will review Chairman Waxman's letter and respond as appropriate," department spokesman Peter Carr told the newspaper.