White House told to detail Christian leader visits

By Randall Mikkelsen http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/bush_christians_dc;_  ylt=An68QlaUEPJodPnCp.E7rdoDW7oF

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ordered the Secret Service on Monday to disclose records of visits by nine prominent conservative Christian leaders to the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s residence.

The ruling, in response to a legal watchdog group’s suit, could shed light on the influence leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family have had on President George W. Bush’s administration. It may also affect legal efforts to force the release of visiting records of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other similar cases.

“We think that these conservative Christian leaders have had a very big impact,” said Executive Director Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the case.

“The White House doesn’t want to talk about how much influence these leaders have, and we want to talk about how much they do have,” she said.

Dobson is one of the most influential opinion leaders among conservative Christians who are at the heart of Bush’s political base.

Others whose visiting records were sought included Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, who unsuccessfully sought the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, and Moral Majority co-founder Jerry Falwell, who died in last May.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth rejected as “misguided” the Secret Service’s arguments that disclosing the records would reveal confidential policy deliberations.

The Secret Service is responsible for presidential security and clears visitors for entry to the White House and Cheney’s official residence. It also argued that the records were not under its control but were protected presidential documents.

Lamberth wrote: “The most that can be said is the Secret Service acts as if the White House has legal control over these records. Upon closer inspection, however, even this proposition seems suspect.”

The White House has also fought against releasing Abramoff’s visiting records. Lambeth’s ruling means they cannot be destroyed without permission of the national archivist, Sloan said.

She said she expected the administration to fight the ruling, but if it survives it could mean White House visits will be considered public records.

Their disclosure would then be open to challenge only on a case-by-case basis, for reasons such as state secrecy or attorney-client privilege.

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the agency was reviewing the ruling but had not decided whether to appeal.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/17/visitor.logs/index.html?section=cnn_latest 

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence by conservative Christian leaders.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth concluded the information is part of the public record and is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as “agency records.”

“Because the Secret Service creates, uses and relies on, and stores visitor records, they are under its control,” said Lamberth.

He ordered the Secret Service to produce records within 20 days.

The White House claimed exclusive control of the documents, subject to the complete discretion of the president over their release.

Secret Service records have been an important tool for advocacy groups and members of Congress seeking information on the inner workings of the executive branch.

Congressional investigators used the records a decade ago in their investigations of the various Whitewater scandals involving President Clinton and his associates, as well as allegations of influence peddling by the Clinton campaign in the 1996 elections.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a self-described government watchdog group, sought the visit records of prominent conservatives James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women of America and seven others including the late televangelist Jerry Falwell.

“CREW is pleased that the judge saw through the White House’s transparent attempts to hide public documents from the American people,” said Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director. “We look forward to sharing the documents we obtain through this lawsuit.”

The White House and Justice Department had no immediate reaction to the ruling.

Separate legal action by CREW and other groups, including Judicial Watch and the Washington Post, sought White House visitor logs that listed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He pleaded guilty last year to public corruption charges.

The White House and the Secret Service in 2006 signed an agreement that visitors to the White House complex were not subject to public disclosure. That “memorandum of understanding” was disclosed during legal action over the Abramoff records.

Lamberth called that a “self-serving” agreement because it was issued after the records were created and after the CREW lawsuit.

The judge, in a separate ruling Monday, said he lacked the authority to order the Secret Service to stop destroying its visitor records once copies were turned over to White House officials. But Lamberth noted the National Archives had to approve any destruction of the logs.

Another federal judge in Washington ordered the release of Secret Service logs of visitors to Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. Cheney claimed those logs were subject to executive privilege. That ruling is being appealed.

Lamberth noted the Secret Service has an important “protective mission” when compiling electronic information — including background checks — of those seeking to enter the White House complex. But he said the agency’s claim of “limited use” of the data does not mean the records are not subject to judicial review.

“This does not mean the Secret Service does not read or rely on them,” wrote Lamberth. “If that were the case, any convenience store patron who has ever bought a losing scratch ticket could claim they did not gamble simply because they held the ticket for only a few minutes.”

The issue of White House privilege over visitor logs has not been fully addressed by the Supreme Court.

The case decided Monday is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.