December 17, 2007

Contact: Naomi Seligman Steiner 202.408.5565 nseligman@citizensforethics.org

17 Dec 2007 // Today, the court in CREW v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security issued an opinion holding that White House visitor records that the Secret Service creates and maintains are agency records subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Judge Lamberth rejected the government's arguments that the records were under the exclusive control of the White House and therefore not agency records subject to the FOIA. In particular, Judge Lamberth rejected the memorandum of understanding that the Secret Service and White House entered into and on which they were relying as evidence that the records belonged to the White House, calling the agreement "self-serving" because it was executed after the Secret Service created the records and was sued by CREW for them. As a result of today's ruling records of visits to both the White House complex and the residency of the vice president are not publicly available through the FOIA.