The Trump administration has announced they will not release White House visitor logs, reversing a policy set by former President Barack Obama in 2009.
The White House defended its commitment to transparency Monday amid criticism of its decision to keep visitors' records secret and new calls for President Donald Trump to release his federal tax returns.
Mrs. Trump's White House visits have been few and far between since the president's inauguration, and her decision to stay in NY has been widely criticized for costing significant taxpayer money, even prompting a petition demanding that she move to the White House. For example, the records typically weren't released until weeks after the visits occurred. The former is not persuasive, since a national security exception was built into the policy.
On Friday, an administration official cited national security concerns in support of the decision to withhold the list and touted other efforts that ensure that the "government is both ethical and accessible to the American people".
However, the Trump White House will honor FOIA requests for the names of visitors to offices that are considered part of other agencies, according to The Washington Post.
The logs, which are maintained by the Secret Service, will be under wraps for at least five years after Trump leaves office.
Look, the Trump administration can obviously do whatever it wants (unfortunately), but considering Donnie was all about "draining the swamp" and being transparent and #MAGA and all that jazz, don't you think he would have no problem with people knowing who's coming and going to the White House?
Instead of aircraft carriers, focus on economic development: Chinese media to India
Apart from Taiwan, Chinese carriers are seen as a threat primarily by China's historical rivals Japan and India. China had no aircraft carrier till 2012 while India's first was purchased from Britain in the late 1950s.
The reports, which were filed with the Federal Election Commission on April 14, show that the Trump campaign committee, Donald J. Trump for President Inc., raised $7.1 million during the first three months of 2017, according to the New York Times.
Why is @BarackObama spending millions to try and hide his records? "Good thing we sued".
However, the newspaper said it is almost impossible to determine the details of such violations, as the administration is reportedly issuing secret waivers to the rules. "For the first time in history, records of White House visitors will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis", Obama stated at the time, calling it a sign of the openness and transparency of his administration. "It's the same policy that every administration had up until the Obama administration".
But now a senior White House official fold Fox News the move, which will take place during the summer, has been confirmed.
White House officials said the Administration is ending the contract for Open.gov, the Obama-era site that hosted the visitor records along with staff financial disclosures, salaries, and appointments. In the past three months, he has also taken some high profile guests to his Florida property, including England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and China's president Xi Jinping.
Critics rejected Trump's claim that the secrecy is needed on national security grounds - the same reasoning he's provided for several of the administration's maneuvers, including two attempts to deny US entry for immigrants and refugees.
Trump began his reelection campaign nearly as soon as he was sworn into office, already branding himself with a new slogan: "Keep America Great".
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