In August of 2013, a court decision mandated that the White House visitor logs could be kept secret from the public. The ruling by the federal Circuit Court for the District of Columbia made it so President Obama and following United States presidents would not be obligated to release the names of anyone who pays a visit the White House for any reason. The Obama administration did start to publically share some of the White House’s visitor logs in 2009, when interest from the media and public interest groups put pressure on the Oval Office to reveal who had access to the room and other high-profile locations in the president’s residence. The decision to keep visitor logs from public knowledge dates back to the Bush administration, but still is a point of contention today.
Fast forward to 2014: the Obama administration has released more than one-million visitor logs, a proud display of the administration’s dedication to transparency. However, controversy is entangled with the release of this information, as it is suspected that there are significant gaps in the visitor log reports.
An article on Public Integrity’s website states:
“The logs are…incomplete for thousands of other visitors to the White House, including lobbyists, government employees, campaign donors, policy experts, and friends of the first family.”
The Center for Public Integrity investigated the White House’s release of the visitor logs and found that the administration seemed to pick and choose what information to share with the public. The Obama administration has not, in fact, been totally open with its disclosure to the populace. Under the guise of transparency, this administration is sharing samples from the White House’s visitor logs, but questions remain regarding exactly who has been to visit the U.S. president and on what business.
Visitor log books are a tried and true method for keeping track of who visits a secure location. The White House – probably the most secure places in the country – should be well-versed in monitoring who comes and goes, and it does seem odd that there are so many discrepancies with their visitor log. This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming months, as surely public scrutiny will only grow until the visitor logs are shared completely.
Photo credit: Washington Examiner