New York City ? The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. government Thursday to try to prove there is a close link between the White House under President George W. Bush and a program of rough interrogation techniques used against suspected terrorists.

The ACLU said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that it wanted to force the public release of all records on the subject issued by former President Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials.

Defendants named in the lawsuit were the CIA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.

On Monday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said in court papers responding to a related lawsuit that releasing documents about the agency’s terror interrogations would gravely damage national security.