Spencer Ackerman August 9, 2007, 11:50 AM

Free Thomas Kontogiannis! Well, he hasn’t been sentenced yet after pleading guilty to a count of money laundering in the Duke Cunningham case, so he can’t be “freed.” But freeing the transcripts of his plea agreement would be a welcome start for anyone interested in understanding more about the most mysterious aspect of a bribery scandal that brought down a congressman.

Nearly everything about Kontogiannis’ guilty plea has been shrouded in secrecy. It wasn’t until June that Judge Larry A. Burns even unsealed the plea, made by Kontogiannis in February. And that secrecy has come at the behest of the prosecution, which has sought to keep the proceedings under wraps — even going so far as to make the novel argument that it can classify judicial records. The U.S. attorney’s office further argued that it couldn’t publicly disclose the reasons why such secrecy is necessary.

But now, after pressure from the San Diego Union Tribune to open the proceedings up, the prosecution is backing down — somewhat.

Federal prosecutors said yesterday they would agree to release portions from some sealed transcripts concerning the guilty plea of a key figure in the Randy “Duke” Cunningham investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge said the portion of a hearing in February where New York developer Thomas Kontogiannis pleaded guilty could be made public.

Forge also said prosecutors do not object to the release of 85 percent of the material in transcripts from four hearings regarding the plea that were conducted in February and April. All those transcripts are under seal and were the subject of a federal appellate court hearing Monday.

It’s still unclear what substantive information from the pleading will emerge. But this is the first indication in months that some aspect of Kontogiannis’ very unusual plea arrangements will become public.

Duke Cunningham, Thomas Kontogiannis