CREW has been fighting the Bush administration's efforts to prevent the release of visitor records for the White House and the Vice Presidential mansion. We maintain these are public records and a federal district court judge agreed with us. The Bush administration is appealing -- and we'll be in the Court of Appeals today opposing them again:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants to use the Secret Service documents to show the influence religious conservatives have on the Bush administration. The government argues that proves the records are related to the White House, not to the workings of the Secret Service, and should not be released.

"The prospect of each and every appointment record immediately becoming the subject of forced public disclosure would surely cast a chill over the ability of the president and vice president to collect information and advice," Justice Department lawyers wrote in court documents.

CREW lawyers reject that argument. They say the documents shouldn't be considered White House records simply because a watchdog group is trying to find out what the White House is up to. The Secret Service created and controlled the documents, the lawyers said, so they should be public.

Nearly two dozen news organizations, including The Associated Press, filed court documents supporting the release of the Secret Service logs.