Without force from a cable & brake, the cable attachment should rotate without any perceptible friction, and the lever should, too. One of the hallmarks of these levers was that the lever attachment was independent of the bar attachment. If these levers were used, it's possible someone put grease on the parts to prevent squeaks, and it's gotten old and dried up. Take it all apart and clean everything. A very tiny application of a light metal conditioning oil in the pivot is the best way to deal with any squeaking -- I use FirePower FP-10 (I used to use Militec-1, heated up).