Obama panned for following Bush’s policy of keeping White House visitors logs secret

September 8th, 2009 Report: Obama administration improves opennessWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's policies on secrecy get higher grades for openness than those of President George W. Bush, yet there's still room for improvement, says a coalition of public interest groups.

September 4th, 2009 White House to make visitor logs publicWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday that his administration will start releasing the names of people who visit the White House, reversing a long-standing policy transcending both Democratic and Republican presidents. The move, which could shed light on who influences White House decision-making, comes after a White House review of its disclosure policy and legal pressure from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama announced Friday he will publicize a list of most visitors to the White House to provide more information about who has access and influences policy. The move was meant to satisfy demands by watchdog groups who have insisted on greater public transparency about the role of lobbyists in decision-making.

August 31st, 2009 White House: Cheney wrong on interrogations policyWASHINGTON — The White House says former Vice President Dick Cheney has his facts wrong on the Obama administration's policies for terror detainee interrogations. Spokesman Robert Gibbs says Cheney was wrong in saying that the White House would make decisions on interrogations based on politics.

July 25th, 2009 SPIN METER: Few health exec visits to WH publicWASHINGTON — Despite President Barack Obama's promise of transparency on his health care overhaul, few White House meetings with medical industry representatives on a list recently released by his administration were made public at the time, an Associated Press review found. Obama, when asked about the meetings at his news conference Wednesday evening, said that "on the list of health care executives who've visited us, most of the time you guys have been in there taking pictures, so it hasn't been a secret." "Frankly, these have mostly been at least photo sprays where you could see who was participating," he added.

July 23rd, 2009 White House invited med industry execs in earlyWASHINGTON — Administration officials began talking privately to major players in the health care industry within a few weeks of President Barack Obama's inauguration, a newly released list of White House visitors shows. Obama on Wednesday night released the list of visits by health care executives after a government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, announced it planned to sue to try to get White House visitor logs.

July 23rd, 2009 Obama lists health execs consulted about overhaulWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's administration began holding private meetings with health industry executives at the White House a few weeks after Obama took office. A visitor list released Wednesday night by the White House shows that those visiting the White House in February included Richard Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association; Angela Braly, chief executive of WellPoint Inc., and Jay Gellert, chief executive of Health Net Inc.

July 9th, 2009 House Dems likely to alter intel billWASHINGTON — Stymied by a White House veto threat, House Democrats say they will work with the Obama administration to soften a legislative provision that would broaden access to secret intelligence briefings. Democrats on the intelligence committee say that an intelligence authorization bill containing the controversial provision would likely pass the House intact but would be adjusted in negotiations with the White House and the Senate.

June 16th, 2009 Lawsuit: White House won't release visitor recordsWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is declining to release documents that would identify visitors to the White House, embracing a legal position taken by the Bush administration, according to a watchdog group that filed a federal lawsuit over access to the records. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed its lawsuit after being denied access to Secret Service records, including White House entry and exit logs, that would identify coal and energy industry visitors.

June 9th, 2009 White House locked down after woman jumps fenceWASHINGTON — A woman jumped a fence onto White House property Tuesday and was immediately taken into custody, the Secret Service said. The White House went into a security lockdown and members of the news media were not permitted to leave the building for more than an hour.

June 9th, 2009 White House locks down after someone jumps fenceWASHINGTON — The Secret Service says a person jumped a fence onto White House property and was immediately taken into custody Tuesday. The White House went into a security lockdown and members of the media were not permitted to leave the grounds.

May 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A disk drive containing one terabyte of data from President Bill Clinton's administration is being investigated as a possible theft. The hard drive went missing from a National Archives facility in Maryland between October 2008 and March of this year, a ranking member of the House Government Oversight and Government Reform committee, said in a statement.

May 13th, 2009 White House: Legislation key for gays in militaryWASHINGTON — The White House says it won't stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military while the Obama administration works to repeal a decade-old policy banning openly gay people from serving in uniform. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama does not plan to intervene in current cases against men and women who announce their homosexuality.

May 12th, 2009 White House: Law only answer for gays in militaryWASHINGTON — The White House says it won't stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military while the Obama administration works to repeal a decade-old policy banning openly gay people from serving in uniform. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama does not plan to intervene in current cases against men and women who announce their homosexuality.

May 1st, 2009 Secret Service removes bike near White HouseWASHINGTON — The Secret Service has closed off a street section near the White House because of concerns about an unattended bicycle. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said Friday the bike was attached to a pole just north of the White House.