White House

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that the White House has appealed U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth's ruling this week which ordered the disclosure of Secret Service visitor logs from the Office of the President and the Vice President's residence pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. 

A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., today, gave the Department of Homeland Security and its agency, the Secret Service, 20 days to turn over White House visitor log records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the non-profit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

In federal courts and on Capitol Hill, challenges are brewing to a key legal strategy President Bush is using to protect a secret surveillance program that monitors phone calls and e-mails inside the United States, The Associated Press reports. Under grilling from lawmakers and attack by lawsuits alleging Bush authorized the illegal wiretapping of Americans, the White House has invoked a legal defense known as the ''state secrets'' doctrine

During last night’s Democratic presidential debate in Philadelphia, front-runner Hillary Clinton was grilled about public access to her records as first lady.

After answering a question from moderator Tim Russert on the issue, Barack Obama noted that if the New York senator  was going to use her period as first lady as evidence of her experience, she needed to open up those records from her White House years.

Obama: ...We have just gone through one of the most secretive administrations in our history.