White House Blocks Visitor Log Request

The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.

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SC County Balks on FOIA Requests

Williamsburg County Supervisor Stanley Pasley has not responded within the prescribed fifteen-day deadline to Freedom of Information requests.

The Weekly Observer has filed requests concerning landfill finances with County Treasurer Pearl Brown, who has provided a portion of the requests, but stated to the Observer that the part of the request had been turned over to Pasley, because only he could provide the information. The records sought are all specifically identified in state law as public records.

State Freedom of information law states that financial records are public records and must be made available to the press and public, except for some specific exemptions. The law also requires response to Freedom of Information law within fifteen working days, and states that any records that are claimed exempt must be so identified within the time limit, or the request must be granted.