Records Released of ‘Everyone’ Who’s Come Through the White House Doors? Not Quite, Says Watchdog Group

[Geee]

CNSnews:

Washington (CNSNews.com) – White House visitor logs released by the administration are incomplete, listing mostly people taking part in group tours or public social events but at times leaving out visits by lobbyists, campaign donors and friends, according to a government watchdog group.

Although the Obama administration is the first to publicly release White House logs, an investigation by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity, released Thursday, found what it called “holes” in the records.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said this was not a matter of trying to conceal information from the public, however. He said the glitches occurred because these security records were not designed for public release.

The CPI said the logs were incomplete for thousands of visitors, “including lobbyists, government employees, campaign donors, policy experts, and friends of the first family.”

“The White House website proudly boasts of making available ‘over 1,000,000 records of everyone who's come through the doors of the White House’ via a searchable database,” the watchdog group continues.

“Yet the center’s analysis shows that the logs routinely omit or cloud key details about the identity of visitors, who they met with, the nature of the visit, and even includes the names of people who never showed up. These are critical gaps that raise doubts about their historical accuracy and utility in helping the public understand White House operations from social events to meetings on key policy debates.”