Image via WikipediaJudge orders Obama administration to release all White House visitor names | iWatch News
Judge orders Obama administration to release all White House visitor names
By Fred Schulte
In ordering the Obama administration to disclose the names of all White House visitors, a federal judge has rejected claims that doing so could harm national security and be too time consuming.
U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell rejected the Secret Service claims that it would be “virtually impossible” to omit names of persons whose identities should be shielded for security reasons. The judge ruled that culling out those names was not “so unreasonable as to require a blanket rejection.”
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said on Friday that the administration is reviewing its options in response to the suit brought under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch, a public interest group.
“This is the most transparent administration in history and the president is very proud to be the first White House with a voluntary disclosure policy that provides visitor records to the American public. Administration lawyers are reviewing the decision and I’d refer you to the Department of Justice for any further questions about next steps," Schultz said in a statement.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said she expected the Justice Department to appeal the ruling. “I’d be shocked if that didn’t happen,” she said.
At issue are the names of all persons who entered the White House complex from January 20, 2009 through September 2009, a time of intense activity by the new Obama administration on a variety of controversial policy matters from the health care reform law to the economic stimulus package.
An iWatch News investigation earlier this year uncovered large gaps and missing information in the visitors’ logs, despite the administration’s contention that the searchable database of names posted on the White House website contains “over 1,000,000 records of everyone who's come through the doors of the White House.”
The investigation found that only 1 percent of 500,000 White House visitors from the first eight months of the Obama administration have been released, that many entries don’t reflect who actually participated in meetings, and that thousands of visitor names are missing.
Republicans in Congress, who have repeatedly clashed with the Obama administration over the visitors’ logs, applauded the ruling.
"Despite the president's repeated promises that this would be the most open and transparent administration in history, the White House has failed to disclose even the most basic information, such as visitor logs,” said a joint statement from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.; and Health Subcommittee Vice Chair Michael C. Burgess, R-Texas.
The committees have demanded broad access to records of who attended and what was discussed at scores of White House meetings held on the health care reform bill and negotiations over clean energy loan guarantees made as part of the economic stimulus program.
The dispute came to a head on May 3, 2011, when the White House ducked an invitation to testify at an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing prompted by concerns over omissions in the logs and allegations that White House officials were holding some meetings with lobbyists in nearby coffee shops to avoid having to disclose them.
Judicial Watch , which brought the case, called the ruling a "major victory for open government and an embarrassing defeat” for the Obama administration.
“This administration will now have to release all records of all visitors to the White House – or explain why White House visits should be kept secret under law. It is refreshing to see the court remind this administration that the rule of law applies to it,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
Other critics have noted that the sizable gap in records released so far provides the public and historians little insight about how key policy decisions were made and who played a role in deciding them—particularly in the energetic early months of the new administration.
It also means that it’s difficult to assess whether a major Obama campaign pledge to limit the influence of lobbyists in his administration has been kept. The administration has faced criticism for rewarding some of its major campaign bundlers and other big donors with plum jobs. White House logs that have been released so far so that some big bundlers had broad access to the White House for meetings with top administration officials and glitzy social events, another iWatch News investigation found .
In all, campaign bundlers and their family members account for more than 3,000 White House meetings and visits. Half of them raised $200,000 or more, the analysis found.
Limited numbers of these records have been disclosed under an agreement reached in another FOIA lawsuit. Under that deal, the White House has exempted from disclosure all records of personal guests of the Obama family, persons who stayed overnight in the White House and some persons with security classifications. The deal covers only those visitors from the end of September 2009 onward.
The White House has argued that the recordkeeping system was revamped when the settlement was reached. Officials said that going back into the old system to cull out persons whose names need to be kept secret would be too time consuming. The administration said it would respond to “reasonable, narrow and specific” requests for visitor information from Obama’s early months in office, but rejected wholesale release of the material.
That could change with the ruling. Still, Dalglish noted that Judge Howell, a former senior adviser to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy appointed to the federal bench by Obama in July 2010, is perhaps more sympathetic to the public interest group’s argument than other judges might be. Judicial Watch “couldn’t have picked a better judge,” she said.
Dalglish said that if Howell’s opinion holds up, a strong argument could be made that White House logs from earlier administration should also be made public
EXTRA ADD ON:
Obama is moving ahead with the plans of the Satanic NWO to finish off America and bring about Martial Law. In this interview a Whitehouse insider reveals some very disturbing information.
Prophet Linda Newkirk also revealed Obama's race war plans in early August.
(prophecy inserted below)
Published by Ulsterman on August 21, 2011 in US Politics:
"The president doesn’t like the Oval Office much – he’s made that point repeatedly to more than a few at the White House. He prefers to be upstairs, no suit. No shoes. No joke —"
Author’s Note: This interview is the first face to face sit down in months with our longtime D.C. political operative we have come to simply call “Insider”. They offer up a unique perspective and insight based upon their decades-long experience as a D.C. insider working within the highest levels of government– including helping to elect Barack Obama in 2008. Here now are the words of Insider, unedited and published in their entirety per their request. This is part three of the interview. WARNING: Adult Content
________
Insider: (Pauses)… As far as it takes. We’re preparing for it. I sure as hell hope America is too. Like I told you…this election coming up…Brutal.
Ulsterman: What do you mean by we – we are preparing for it? And are you actually saying that Barack Obama would push for race riots to somehow win a presidential election? That sounds…far fetched. Even for this administration.
Insider: Does it? How so? You need to take step back and see more of what has been happening in this country. It’s why this thing went from a concern about the party to a serious concern about the country. Why aren’t you seeing that?
Ulsterman: Just explain – the race rioting. I don’t see how that would help Obama get re-elected. It doesn’t…I just don’t see how that would work. In fact it seems like just the opposite. If we go from economic chaos to…whatever one would call it – racial chaos…that doesn’t help Obama. So yeah – I don’t see what you are saying there.
Insider: (Leans back – folds arms across chest)
You and too many goddamn Americans don’t see it, so don’t feel so bad. You know, other world leaders see it. Putin. Sarkozy. Merkel. Harper…Barack Obama is incapable of anything remotely resembling leadership, but he is also quite capable of the kind of dangerous arrogance that the very worst leaders in history possessed. (Pauses) Look, let me try and paint a picture for you – a clearer picture of what Obama really is. If you were to step into the White House and see the man at work, or whatever the hell it is he calls it. It’s not the same as what some of his own people are calling it – I know that for certain. The jokes, the sneers that go on behind the president’s back. You want to see that picture? The real Barack Obama? Maybe then you might understand what the man is capable of – really capable of.
Ulsterman: Go ahead.
Insider: I’m at my desk here right? We’re sitting here having this conversation. How about we take a look at what the president would look like in the same situation? Walk into that room – that office of his on the 2nd floor. He spends less and less time downstairs – that’s Daley’s world now. The president doesn’t like the Oval Office much – he’s made that point repeatedly to more than a few at the White House. He prefers to be upstairs, no suit. No shoes. No joke —
Ulsterman: (Interrupts) —Shoes?
Insider: Yeah – shoes. President Obama, when he is in his de facto office upstairs – the one that is closer to Jarrett’s own office, and a short hop over to the residence, he spends his time there often in shorts, or sweats, a t-shirt, and those sandal things…flip-flops. There is a large screen television in there and that’s where hours of his time are spent when he is actually at the White House. Day in and day out. The First Lady rules the residence, and the president heads over to his 2nd floor West Wing study. Starting around last spring, he started to take regular briefings in there. And the instructions that went out on those briefings to the president were that they were to be most importantly – brief. Anything more than about 15 minutes is unacceptable to Obama. So let’s look through the eyes of someone heading into Barack Obama’s upstairs office at the White House to give him a briefing. Maybe it’s on national security. Maybe the economy. Energy policy. Whatever – doesn’t matter. The scenario being played out these days is pretty much the same regardless of the particulars. You knock on the door – it’s always closed. Always. Often you have to knock for some time before being given approval from inside to enter. The big screen will be on – the volume loud. You can easily hear it from outside the door. The sports channels are the ones most commonly playing, though sometimes the channel will be set to music, or Fox News. Sometimes Valerie Jarrett might be there, but most often it is just the president and his personal aide. A large leather chair will be facing the television – it’s well worn. Not part of the White House furnishings but something the president must have brought in from back home. That’s where you’ll most often find the President of the United States – the most powerful man in the free fucking world. He often sits with one leg draped over one of the chair’s arms and the other leg stuck straight onto the floor. Shorts, sweats, a t-shirt, and like I said, no shoes or just those sandal things that so many of the younger people like to wear these days. And that leg that’s draped over an arm of the chair will be bopping up and down, like…like someone with a lot of nervous energy. Like a kid does. And there’s the smell of smoke hanging on the president. The guy never quit smoking – that was all bullshit. I told you that already. In fact, there’s one of those smokeless ash trays on the desk in there. And that desk, it’s a mess. Magazines spread out all over it. Stupid shit too. Real low brow reading material the president is into. People. Rolling Stone. Lots of those tabloid things. The most common thread with this shit is it’s about the president. If it’s about him, he’s gonna read it. Good or bad – doesn’t matter. If somebody is talking about him, he’s reading it. He’s watching it. Whatever. The guy’s self-obsession is off the fucking charts.
So that’s what you first see when you enter the room – the upstairs office of President Obama. Next you’re gonna notice how small the guy looks. Really thin. He pads his suits up you know. The top end. The shoulders. It became an actual issue during the 2008 campaign – some of his handlers were saying it made his neck look too small. Fact is, it made his neck look just like it is – small. The guy is scrawny. All knees and elbows sitting in that chair. Sometimes he gets up when you come in, sometimes he remains seated and will just turn the volume on the TV down with the remote and say, “What you got?” That foot is bouncing up and down while you give him the briefing, but he rarely looks over at you – always looking at whatever is on the television. If it’s Jarrett in the room, or the personal assistant, one of them is there to keep the time. Your time. Don’t go over that fifteen minutes. And even if the president doesn’t look like he hears a word you’re saying, they are listening to everything. Every goddamn syllable coming out of your mouth, and if something is said they don’t like, they jot down notes. Been told it’s to use for the end of day summary they give the president – their own version of what is important and what can be ignored…and who might need to be pushed down, or pushed out…or whatever. So you’re looking at the president, this skinny guy, who’s ignoring you, who’s dressed like some kind of fucking frat boy wannabe, with somebody else taking notes on what you’re saying, and then you get up and walk out. The president might acknowledge you on some days, give a little nod, maybe even a thank you, but most often he just continues to look at the TV, bounce that foot on the chair, his skin looking off-color, pale, the eyes out of focus, the hair a helleva lot more gray than is shown in public, the wrinkles around the mouth far deeper…and the hands. His fucking hands are so…they are just these thin little stick digits. They are like these long-fingered woman’s hands. And his wrists, you could wrap your own fingers all the way around those wrists – again, so much like a woman’s hands. Almost freakish. Certainly not the strong alpha-male type image that America was given during the 2008 campaign.
That’s who you see in the room – the real Barack Obama. Pretty fucking unsettling. Those world leaders, they sensed this. They saw through the façade and saw who was running the United States of America, and the word went out – “Don’t count on this American president – he doesn’t have a fucking clue.” And they’re right.
Ulsterman: So what? The president is a thin man. He has small hands. What the hell does that have to do with-with…anything? Or anything relevant to the 2012 election, or the scandal, or to—
Insider: (Interrupts)—I’m trying to lay out the psychological foundation of the son-of-a-bitch. You think people might want to know what this man is really like? How everything around him – the whole fucking image…it’s a charade. It’s a lie. He fooled me – he fooled a whole lot of us. And he is frightened every hour of every day that the country will find out. But this realization, this little part of Obama’s self-awareness, it’s getting beat down by the guy’s absolute arrogance and when necessary, willingness to over-reach acceptable executive authority. Yeah, it’s a lot more important than the fact he dresses like a slob when the cameras aren’t on, or that he lies over and over again just because it’s convenient and the media continues to let him get away with it…it’s about how far he will go to keep the charade up, right? How far, and who is he willing to throw under that bus? Who can be sacrificed to keep up the lie that is Barack Obama? To keep the scandals down? To keep people quiet? To keep himself as the tool for the ones really calling the shots?
So will he stir up the race issue if it means guilting or scaring white voters to keep him in the White House? Hell yes he will. He’s been doing that shit his whole damn life! You wanna say so what to that? You wanna see this country torn apart by race because we have a president who sees it as a viable political tool? Don’t answer – let me talk here. I’m laying some things out I’ve been holding back on, so if you wanna hear it, let me talk. Don’t interrupt me with one of your little questions…
The race card, the racial thing – whatever it’s gonna be called, it is the number one asset this administration believes it has to win in 2012. Their own polling data has shown that to be true over and over again. But how far are they willing to push that? Race. The charges of racism? I believe all the way if they have to. And they are gonna get people stirred up. And if Barack Obama doesn’t win re-election, watch them stand back while the riots break out, and watch them mouth the words “Burn baby burn.” I don’t think they are willing to go that far, I know it. If they can’t have America, nobody will. That’s how big – that’s how important this election coming up is. Even the people who pay attention to this stuff…they don’t realize how big this is. How important to the country. We are truly at a fork in the road here. This administration is going to attempt whatever necessary to remain in power. Race. Intimidation. Media attacks. Division – divide and fucking conquer. You notice how divisive the Republican primary campaigns have already started to become? You think that’s all occurring on its own? Hell no. Tens of millions of dollars are already being spent getting conservatives, Republicans, Independents, whatever – get them to attack each other. Get them frustrated and lower their desire to vote for the eventual nominee. You know, Republicans used to be the party that would unite behind the nominee when they were chosen – it frustrated the hell out of us Democrats who were always bitching over this or that right up until the election. That’s not the case anymore, and your Republicans are much weaker because of it. I’ll say this, if Republicans don’t get their shit together and vote for whoever is the nominee – and I mean WHOEVER is the nominee, then it will be another four years of Barack Obama running this country into the fucking dirt and that’s what we deserve. If we are too stupid as a country to fix this mess…then so be it. It’s over. The America we know, the America we knew – it’s over. Done. And we will only have ourselves to blame.
Read More: White House Insider: "Everyone Stunned At How Little Barack Obama Understands"
