[JURIST] A CIA information review officer providing a sworn statement to US District Judge Reggie B. Walton [official profile] has indicated that clearing top-level information requested by former vice-presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile; JURIST news archive] could take as long as nine months. Marilyn Dorn filed the statement Friday but it was only unsealed Tuesday. Libby, who faces perjury charges [PDF indictment] for lying to federal investigators in the CIA leak case [JURIST news archive], has asked for nearly one year of presidential security briefing transcripts. Dorn also stated that disclosure of the transcripts could potentially compromise national security, suggesting that the agency is opposed to a hypothetical release.

Libby insists the documents are necessary to prove that he was so busy with security matters that he simply forget his conversation with reporters about the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame [JURIST news archive]. AP has more.