WASHINGTON — The Obama administration sought Thursday to prevent a lawyer for a former C.I.A. officer convicted in Italy in the kidnapping of a radical Muslim cleric from privately sharing classified information about the case with a Federal District Court judge.

In a hearing before the judge, Beryl A. Howell, the Justice Department said that only the executive branch has the power to make decisions about classified information, including whether the lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, can tell the judge what he knows.

“There is no right for the plaintiff to give the court classified information at all,” said Brigham J. Bowen, a Justice Department lawyer. He said Mr. Zaid’s “obligation is to protect against all disclosures, including to the court.”

Mr. Zaid, who has represented many Central Intelligence Agency officers, holds a security clearance. As a federal jurist, Judge Howell is authorized to see classified information that is necessary to resolve a case.