Judge: White House Logs Are Public
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which is fighting the release of records showing visits by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prominent religious conservatives.
The 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.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said logs from the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence are subject to public records request.
P.S. -- Lots of luck finding the Secret Service logs of visitors to Cheney's residence at the Naval Observatory. They probably have a better shot at retrieving the 10 million White House emails Karl Rove ordered destroyed.
I googled Judge Royce C. Lamberth: Graduate of University of Texas and University of Texas Law School, appointed to the bench in 1987 by Pres. Ronald Reagan. The Republicans like to rant and rave about "activist federal judges" but the majority of federal judges on the bench right now are Republican appointees. Seven of the nine Supreme Court justices are Republican appointees.



LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote


Bookmarks