Obama blocks list of visitors to White House

In October 2006, CREW sought records of visits by nine religious leaders: James Dobson, Gary L. Bauer, Wendy Wright, Louis P. Sheldon, Andrea Lafferty, Paul Weyrich, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon and Jerry Falwell.

The Bush position was rejected in December 2007 by Judge Lamberth, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan. Lamberth gave the White House 20 days to hand over the public records. But CREW did not get the visitor logs.

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In September 2008, Homeland Security said that it did not plan to release the visitor logs, claiming that the visitor logs were protected by the presidential communication privilege in the law.

Judge Lamberth ruled again, denying that claim on Jan. 9. The judge wrote that a simple list of visitors is not a communication at all, because it includes no details on the topics discussed during a meeting, and therefore is not protected by a presidential communication privilege.

The Bush administration appealed on Jan. 14, a week before the end of President Bush's term of office.

In late January and again in May, the Obama administration had opportunities to change course, when it filed papers in the appeals court, but stuck with the Bush position.

In February, the White House spokesman, LaBolt, told msnbc.com that the policy was under review. "We are reviewing our policy on access to visitor logs and related litigation involving the previous administration to determine how we can ensure that policymaking in this administration happens in an open and transparent way, and that we take appropriate measures to ensure that we are operating in a secure environment."

But last week, in denial letters to msnbc.com and CREW, the Secret Service continued to cite the Bush position.

Asked Monday whether the White House plans to continue to oppose release of the records, White House spokesman LaBot said the policy is still under review. He also cited a list of "the unprecedented steps the administration has taken to promote openness and transparency." These include instructing all agencies to adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure in Freedom of Information Act decisions, and overturning the practice of allowing other executives, aside from the president, to assert executive privilege to block access to an administration's records.

Unpersuaded was the attorney for the watchdog group CREW, which was formed in 2003 during the Bush administration to increase open government.

"It's great that President Obama made this commitment to transparency," attorney Weismann said. "But now you need to make good on it."

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Here's an official transcript of White House spokesman Robert Gibbs discussing the issue at Tuesday's press briefing:

Q    What's the policy going to be on release of the names of White House visitors?

MR. GIBBS:  The policy -- as you know, I think many of you know, this has involved -- visitor logs have been involved in some litigation dating back to some time in 2006.  The White House is reviewing that policy based on some of that litigation.

Q    So it's just you're not going either way on it now, and you're not refusing to --

MR. GIBBS:  We're reviewing what has been the policy of -- the previous policy.

Q    Who is doing that review?

MR. GIBBS:  The White House Counsel's Office and other people in the administration.

Q    What's the length of the review?

MR. GIBBS:  I don't know the exact timeline.

Q    Is there a mandate to be more transparent than the previous administration?

MR. GIBBS:  I think we ran on that --

Q    In this specific regard?

MR. GIBBS:  That's what's under review.

Q    Is that the goal?

MR. GIBBS:  What's the goal?

Q    Isn't that the goal, to be more transparent on these visitor logs than the previous administration?

MR. GIBBS:  The goal is -- and I think the President, who underscored his commitment to transparency on his first full day in office -- this is not a contest between this administration or that administration, or any administration; it's to uphold the principle of open government.

Q    Why would the President have any objection to the public knowing who is coming in here to visit?

MR. GIBBS:  I think we've taken actions to let people know who are.  I think again, Peter, this dates back to litigation long before we ever showed up.

Q    Do you think you might have to uphold precedent here, possibly?

MR. GIBBS:  That's part of what's being reviewed by the Counsel's Office.

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