CREW STATEMENT: FEDERAL JUDGE DECLARES WHITE HOUSE VISITOR RECORDS SUBJECT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

17 Dec 2007 // From its first days, this administration has tried to keep the American public in the dark about what goes on behind closed White House doors. Through a secret agreement and a letter from Vice President Cheney’s counsel, the administration had attempted to permanently hide from view records related to those who visit the White House and the vice president’s residence. Today, a federal judge has cracked open those doors by holding that these are Secret Service records subject to public disclosure. As a result of CREW’s lawsuit, District of Columbia District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth has ordered the Secret Service to produce records of certain conservative leaders’ visits to the White House within 20 days.

Although in a separate case, Judge Lamberth held today he did not have the authority to order the Secret Service to stop destroying White House visitor records, his ruling here means that such records cannot be destroyed without prior approval of the Archivist.

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