lily
12-17-2007, 11:06 PM
The White House is not owned by Bush, it is owned by the public. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22299136/)
White House logs are ruled public
Bush administration expected to appeal decision
updated 14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge
ruled Monday, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had
hoped would get around public records laws and let them keep their guests a
secret.
The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which has fought the
release of records showing visits by prominent religious conservatives.
Visitor records are created by the Secret Service, which is subject to the
Freedom of Information Act. But the Bush administration has ordered the data
turned over to the White House, where they are treated as presidential
records outside the scope of the public records law.
But U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled logs from the White House
and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence remain Secret Service documents
and are subject to public records requests.
In a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington, a liberal watchdog group, Lamberth ordered the Secret Service to
turn over visitor logs regarding nine conservative religious commentators,
including James Dobson, Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell.
"I think it's hugely significant," said Anne L. Weismann, the watchdog
group's chief counsel. "The judge saw their arguments for what they were."
White House spokesman Tony Fratto and Justice Department spokesman Charles
Miller said lawyers were reviewing the decision and they would have no
immediate response. The Bush administration is expected to appeal the
ruling.
In a separate case, CREW had sought an order declaring illegal a Bush
administration policy under which the Secret Service destroys its copies of
the logs once they are turned over to the White House.
In that second case involving White House visits by disgraced lobbyist Jack
Abramoff, Lamberth said he did not have the authority to issue such a
ruling.
Because the logs were declared Secret Service records, however, they cannot
be destroyed without approval from the National Archives.
The Bush administration had sought to have the case moved to another judge
by consolidating it with a similar lawsuit before U.S. District Judge
Rosemary Collyer, an appointee of President Bush.
Lamberth, who served in the Justice Department before President Reagan put
him on the federal bench, has roiled Democratic and Republican
administrations alike with rulings rejecting government secrecy claims.
White House logs are ruled public
Bush administration expected to appeal decision
updated 14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge
ruled Monday, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had
hoped would get around public records laws and let them keep their guests a
secret.
The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which has fought the
release of records showing visits by prominent religious conservatives.
Visitor records are created by the Secret Service, which is subject to the
Freedom of Information Act. But the Bush administration has ordered the data
turned over to the White House, where they are treated as presidential
records outside the scope of the public records law.
But U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled logs from the White House
and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence remain Secret Service documents
and are subject to public records requests.
In a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington, a liberal watchdog group, Lamberth ordered the Secret Service to
turn over visitor logs regarding nine conservative religious commentators,
including James Dobson, Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell.
"I think it's hugely significant," said Anne L. Weismann, the watchdog
group's chief counsel. "The judge saw their arguments for what they were."
White House spokesman Tony Fratto and Justice Department spokesman Charles
Miller said lawyers were reviewing the decision and they would have no
immediate response. The Bush administration is expected to appeal the
ruling.
In a separate case, CREW had sought an order declaring illegal a Bush
administration policy under which the Secret Service destroys its copies of
the logs once they are turned over to the White House.
In that second case involving White House visits by disgraced lobbyist Jack
Abramoff, Lamberth said he did not have the authority to issue such a
ruling.
Because the logs were declared Secret Service records, however, they cannot
be destroyed without approval from the National Archives.
The Bush administration had sought to have the case moved to another judge
by consolidating it with a similar lawsuit before U.S. District Judge
Rosemary Collyer, an appointee of President Bush.
Lamberth, who served in the Justice Department before President Reagan put
him on the federal bench, has roiled Democratic and Republican
administrations alike with rulings rejecting government secrecy claims.