White House follows new path to secrecy
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
Over the past year, lawyers for President Bush and Cheney have directed the Secret Service to maintain the confidentiality of visitor entry and exit logs, declaring them to be presidential records, exempt from a law requiring their disclosure to whoever asks to see them.
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The government's court filings show that the Bush White House focused on the issue in the months before Election Day 2004.
Discussions moved into high gear when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal prompted news organizations and private groups to demand that the administration turn over Secret Service records of visitors to the White House complex and the vice president's residence. .............
"We're looking at a huge problem if the White House can reach into any agency and say certain records have something to do with the White House and they are presidential from now on," Blanton said.
"This White House has been infinitely creative in finding new ways and new forms of government secrecy."more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070601/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_cheney_secrecy