Obama continues Bush policy of hiding visitors names

AP Photo

While Obama continues to blame Bush for problems being experienced in the United States, he continues many of his orders, such as withholding the names of visitors to the White House.  Now the President wants to hide the names of people who spend time with him in the Oval Office. What happened to his promise about transparency?

Apparently, Obama wants to keep hidden, the names of those who come to influence policy decisions. The fact is that two federal judges have ruled that the records are public, but the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present.

 

It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.  CREW  filed a complaint on Tuesday, June 17, 2009, against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.  Meanwhile the Obama administration said that the policy is under review.

During the Bush administration, the records of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, inspite of that administrations effort to withhold them, were released as was done when the Clinton administration was under investigation.

According to the MSNBC report, The Obama administration is arguing that the White House visitor logs are presidential records ­ not Secret Service agency records, which would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

To read the entire article about Obama withholding logs of visitors to the White House, go to

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/

More articles about Obama since becoming president

Obama learning Washington ain't Chicago

Obama ethics requirement ignored for dozens of appointees

Obama ban on lobbyists a farce

Obama renewing Bush's Patriot Act Provisions

Obama follows Bush's "State Secrets" rules

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