MSNBC: Obama administration visitor disclosure policy exempts its first eight months
By Bill Allison Sep 04 2009 4:50 p.m. 1 commentBill Dedman, and investigative reporter at MSNBC.com, points out some limitations in the new policy announced by the White House today on providing open records:
...only visits after Sept. 15, 2009, will be revealed. The first wave of records is expected to be posted around Dec. 31.snip
...msnbc.com had sought records on all White House visitors. That request, for all visitors since Inauguration Day, still stands, and msnbc.com has filed an administrative appeal with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
The new White House policy says it will consider requests for visitor information for the period from Jan. 20 to Sept. 15, but only if the requests are narrow and include specific names to be checked. In other words, if you don't know who visited, or can't guess who might have visited during this period, the White House won't tell you.
Dedman also notes that, by labeling these releases "voluntary," the White House still contends that the identities of individuals visiting the White House is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Ellen Miller offered her take on the program here.
Search the Blog
Real Time Ticker
Recent Posts
- Thanks to lobbying, farm bill yields crop insurance funds
- Surge of immigration lobbyists fueled by push for high-skilled foreign workers
- Health group airs ad backing Obama EPA nominee
- Apple lobbies on taxes more than any other subject
- Reporter's notebook: How we came up with that campaign finance maze
Reporting we're watching
- OpenSecrets: Millionaire Freshmen Make Congress Even Wealthier
- OpenSecrets: Just Who Was Rand Paul's Apology For?
- OpenSecrets: Shape-Shifting by Liberal Dark Money Groups Seems Meant to Confuse
- Sunlight Foundation: OpenGov Voices: Network, collaborate, and innovate at CityCamp NC
- Sunlight Foundation: 2Day in #OpenGov 5/22/2013
Update:Here's your chance to help figure out who has been lobbying the White House during the early months of the Obama administration.Details are at msnbc.com:Help figure out who has been calling on ObamaA guessing game: Who visited White House in administration's early days?Although President Barack Obama has announced that he will make public the names of most visitors to the White House, there's a catch.Under the new White House policy, names of visitors during the first eight months of the administration are not being released wholesale. Those visitors will be revealed only if a member of the public requests specific names to be checked against the visitor logs. It's a guessing game. The White House rules don't allow you to ask for "everyone who visited on Feb. 3," or "anyone who visited green jobs czar Van Jones ," but you can ask for all visits by specific people, whether former Sen. Tom Daschle or New York Times columnist David Brooks or an Obama campaign donor from your hometown.For more...http://bit.ly/uumqoor the full address: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32715598/ns/politics-white_house/