White House Will Not Release Visitor Logs

The logs of those who visit the White House will be kept secret by the Trump administration, Time magazine is reporting.

The decision by White House officials signals a major change from the Obama administration, which had released many of the records during his presidency, according to the magazine.

Under President Barack Obama the records of visitors were published on a White House maintained website, The Washington Post reported. However, that web page has gone dark since Trump took office in January.

White House communications director Michael Dubke said the decision to keep the logs secret was based on "the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually."

And White House officials insisted the Obama logs were incomplete, according to the Washington Post. The Obama policy included privacy exceptions for private visits to his family or those attending "sensitive" meetings.

The new Trump administration policy dictates that it will be up to the White House to decide whether to release names of visitors coming to meet with the president, vice president and senior staff.

Meanwhile, a coalition of watchdog groups filed suit in federal court earlier this week in a bid to force the release of the records, The Washington Post noted

• Watchdog Groups Sue Trump Admin for Not Releasing Visitor Logs
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