[Griff]

Obama is going to end up with a "meet the new boss" problem. He needs to be better than the previous criminals.

Democracy Now!

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, didn’t the President actually make a big issue of this during his campaign, actually saying—I think it was on his website even, his campaign website—that the White House is the people’s house and the people have a right to know who visits?


MELANIE SLOAN: Yes, he did. And, in fact, transparency has been sort of a totem of this administration, at least that’s what they claimed. But then we’re finding the actual transparency is a little disappointing.


And, of course, they’re release these names last night, because they want to avoid the distraction at the President’s press conference on healthcare.


But we have another Freedom of Information Act request and a lawsuit outstanding for the information regarding coal executives’ visits to the White House. And the White House has not responded to that.


Also, there is another case—two cases that we have before the Court of Appeals regarding Secret Service visitor records. These cases were started under the Bush administration for visits by Christian conservative leaders to the White House and also by a lobbyist named Stephen Payne. Courts previously held that the Secret Service had to provide that information. That case is going up on appeal, and so far the Obama administration is taking the exact same position that the Bush administration took, claming these records are presidential records, not federal records, and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.