The Obama administration this morning released White House visitor records being sought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) to settle four pending cases requesting specific named White House visitor access records, including those dating from the Bush administration.
CREW sought information about conservative Christian leaders visits to the Bush White House. Among the frequent visitors : Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell.
Lists and more after the jump
Among the previously undisclosed visits to the Bush White House were political conservative activist Paul Weyrich, lobbyist Stephen Payne, conservative christian think tank head Tony Perkins, Concerned Women For America President Wendy Wright, conservative Traditional Values Coalition ChairmanLouis Sheldon, and its Executive Director Andrea Lafferty, evangelical christian author James Dobson, Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell,Gary Bauer, and American Family Association founder Donald Wildmon.
A complete list in three parts can be found here, here and visitors to Vice President Cheney can be found here.
CREW had asked for information about 18 health care executives visits to the Obama White House. (Obama White House response letter to Crew here)
Health care executives visiting the Obama White House are listed here (csv) In the list: Angela Braly, Richard Clark, Jay Gellert, George Halverson, Stephen Hemsley, Karen Ignagni, Jeffery Kindler, David Nexon, John Rohack, Richard Smith, Wayne Smith, Wilbert Tauzin, Richard Umbdenstock, and William Weldon.
CREW had also sought information about White House visits by 16 coal industry executives. The Obama administration says it could find no record of them visiting the White House or the office of the Vice President from January 21, 2009 until July 31, 2009.
The White House says that going forward:
Aside from a small group of appointments that cannot be disclosed because of national security imperatives or their necessarily confidential nature (such as a visit by a possible Supreme Court nominee), the record of every visitor who comes to the White House for an appointment, a tour, or to conduct business will be released. Read the full policy here.
As much as a step forward in transparency this is, there are many loopholes in the policy. First there is a three to four month lag between the visit and the posting of information on the internet. Then there are exceptions including for "national security", "extreme confidentiality" and "personal visits to the first family".