Gibbs: “We’re reviewing what had been the policy of the previous policy” (ap photo)
No, no, no — the White House isn’t refusing to release its visitor logs — it’s just a matter under review. That was press secretary Robert Gibbs’ response today when asked why the administration was apparently stonewalling on requests by msnbc.com and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) for an accounting of vistors to the White House since President Obama’s inauguration.
GIBBS: The policy — as you know, and I think many of you know, this has involved — visitor logs have been involved in some litigation dating back to sometime in 2006. The White House is reviewing that policy based on some of that litigation.
QUESTION: So it’s just — you’re not going either way on it now? You’re not refusing to…
GIBBS: We’re — we’re reviewing what had been the policy of — the previous policy.
QUESTION: Who is doing the review?
GIBBS: The White House counsel’s office and other people…
QUESTION: What’s the length of the review?
GIBBS: I don’t — I don’t know the exact timeline.
QUESTION: Don’t they need to be more transparent than the previous administration?
GIBBS: I — I think we ran on that.
GIBBS: That’s what’s under review.
QUESTION: Is that the goal?
GIBBS: What’s the goal?
QUESTION: Is that the goal — to be more transparent on these visitor logs than the previous administration?
GIBBS: The goal is, and I think the president underscored his commitment to transparency on his first full day in office. This is not a contest between this administration or that administration or any administration. It’s to uphold the principle of open government.
Obama has shown a great willingness to part with the practices of the previous administration when it suited him. CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the logs in pursuit of coal company executives who had been meeting with administration officials, notes ABC News. The request was denied, and the organization on Tuesday filed a lawsuit.
The issue of vistor logs has come up before — notably, during the Jack Abramoff probe. CREW last year sued and won the rights to visitor logs in a separate case — and now says the Obama administration is embracing the same policy of secrecy as the Bush administration.
