expedited briefing schedule in CREW v. Dep't of Homeland Security = WH visitor records

[L. Coyote]

COURT ISSUES EXPEDITED BRIEFING SCHEDULE IN CREW LAWSUIT SEEKING WHITE HOUSE VISITOR RECORDS
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30671

2 Jan 2008 // On December 28, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an expedited briefing schedule in CREW v. Dep't of Homeland Security, CREW's lawsuit seeking Secret Service White House visitor records for certain conservative Christian leaders.

The government is appealing the district court's ruling that the records are agency records of the Secret Service subject to the Freedom of Information Act and must be produced to CREW.

CREW agreed to a stay of the order in exchange for the government's agreement to seek expedition of its appeal. Under the expedited briefing schedule, the government's brief is due January 28, CREW's opposition brief is due February 28, and the government's reply is due March 13. ......

[L. Coyote]

1. THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL: MISPLACED WHITE HOUSE SECRECY

THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL: MISPLACED WHITE HOUSE SECRECY
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30680


26 Dec 2007 // The White House filed a challenge last week to a U.S. District Court ruling that Secret Service visitor logs for the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence are public documents. Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that these records can be released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This was in response to a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonpartisan, liberal-leaning nonprofit organization, to obtain information about the visits of nine conservative leaders, including James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer of American Values and Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America. The original FOIA request was filed in October 2006.

It's likely that these worthies did nothing wrong in their communications with the Bush administration, so it's all the more puzzling that the White House would raise suspicions about the release of what appear to be innocuous public records. The Secret Service, which is subject to FOIA, maintains logs of all visits to the White House and the vice president's residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Avenue NW. The White House sought to keep these records out of sight, claiming that they're presidential records that fall outside the realm of FOIA's legitimate reach.

But Judge Lamberth, noting that the meeting logs do not damage the confidentiality of presidential and vice presidential policy deliberations, ruled that they are indeed subject to FOIA requests, since the logs describe neither the nature nor purpose of the visits. The logs provide only evidence of who is visiting the administration's top officials. This gives ordinary Americans insight into who has access and influence.

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[L. Coyote]

2. Abramoff is the real reason this is all so worrisome to the Junta, I suspect.

[L. Coyote]

3. visibility kick

[L. Coyote]

4. "