Upon assuming the presidency Barack Obama set about creating an office within the White House to spearhead his effort to... View Article
Continue readingThe Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House-PhRMA Deal
More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack... View Article
Continue readingDon’t Give Grades Till the End of the Class
With notable exceptions, such as the White House visitor logs being released, the efforts we have seen towards openness are still almost entirely intentions, plans, and initiative rather than outcomes that have tangibly resulted in more actual transparency.
Continue readingBush Era Visitor Logs Show Visits from Evangelicals, Conservatives and a Foreign Lobbyist
White House Takes Huge Step Toward Transparency
Early this morning, the White House took a huge step toward a more transparent government by announcing a historic new... View Article
Continue readingMajor Victory for Transparency
This afternoon, our friends at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) got a major victory for all who care for openness and transparency.
A federal judge ruled that the logs kept by the Secret Service of visitors to the White House and the Vice President's residence are public records and subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Bush White House had been fighting the release of the documents in an effort to hide evidence and details of visits from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prominent religious conservative leaders. The White House insists that the logs are presidential records and should not be public, and wants the Secret Service to destroy its copies of the logs once they are turned over to the White House. They were wrong.
In sum, according to CREW: "As a result of today's ruling, records of visits to both the White House complex and the residency of the vice president are now publicly available through the FOIA."
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