Barack Obama may have released more than 6 million records of who visited the White House during his presidency, but now we're in for a little, let's call it, Trumparency: Zip, until Trump's long gone from office. Zeke Miller writes:
White House communications director Michael Dubke said the decision to reverse the Obama-era policy was due to “the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.” Instead, the Trump Administration is relying on a federal court ruling that most of the logs are “presidential records” and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. [...]
Under the Trump Administration’s directive, logs of those entering the White House complex will be kept secret until at least five years after Trump leaves office—at which point they will first be eligible to be requested by the public, press and scholars. The White House did not say who would maintain custody of the records during his time in office.
A coalition of government watchdog groups filed suit against the administration earlier this week in an effort to gain access to the records. Democratic lawmakers also introduced the MAR-A-LAGO Act, which would force Trump to reveal who he sees in places where he regularly holds meeting outside the White House.
The lawsuit is perhaps a bit more promising than an effort to pass a transparency measure through a Republican-dominated Congress which would then have to be signed by Trump himself.
But in all likelihood, Trump will be meeting whomever he wants wherever he wants with little scrutiny by the public.