By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Former Vice President Dick Cheney's penchant for keeping secrets may permanently damage his legacy as a patriotic American.

Reports this weekend said Cheney had ordered CIA officials to keep a counter-terrorism program secret from Congress, in probable violation of the law.

The reports are believable, given Cheney's long-stated attempts to keep people in the dark about how the Bush administration was trying to protect America after 9/11.

Even Cheney's most ardent backers shouldn't want him keeping secrets from top elected officials -- key Democrats and Republicans -- who by law are supposed to be kept abreast of CIA activities.

On Sunday, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said CIA Director Leon Panetta had told a handful of congressmen of Cheney's involvement.

"I think this is a problem, obviously," Feinstein said on "Fox News Sunday."

It's so obvious, in fact, that Panetta reportedly pulled the plug on the counter-terrorism program when he learned of it in June.

Some top Republicans agreed this weekend that selected members of Congress have to be kept in the loop about top-secret activities -- even though they refused to attack Cheney's possible involvement. The GOP also continued to accuse Democrats of playing up this story about Cheney just to protect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has had her own run-ins with the CIA.

If Cheney were involved in purposefully misleading Congress, that could wind up being a huge black mark against the former vice president.

It begs for a complete congressional investigation, so the American people know whether Cheney violated his oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.