President Bush is wrong.
White House lawyers, responding to a federal judge who had ordered the release of the list last year, contend the disclosure would erode the power of the office — a specious argument that merely enhances the view of this administration as closed and secretive.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group seeking the list, does not want a transcript of the conversations between these visitors and the president and vice president.
If it did, the White House might have a case; instead, the group merely wants the list to determine how often prominent religious conservatives visited both the White House and the vice presidential residence.