And the beat goes on….
Here’s the latest example of the Obama White House mimicking its predecessor’s reflexive preference for secrecy over openness: the administration has turned down a request from a good-government group to release the names of the health-industry execs who have gone to the White House to discuss health-care reform, reports the Los Angeles Times.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had sent a letter to the Secret Service asking for the names of the 18 industry execs. But in response, the Secret Service said it considered the names to be presidential records, and therefore not subject to public disclosure laws. That was the argument used by the Bush administration to justify not releasing the names of the oil industry execs who were part of Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force in 2001. CREW now says it will file suit.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=140404