Editorial: Enough secrets already

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

In its attempt to hide from public scrutiny, the Bush administration has made a practice of declaring everything a secret, including the most mundane records.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a self-described government watchdog group, sued the Bush administration after it refused to turn over the Secret Service's log of visitors to the White House. The group had requested visitor logs relating to a handful of conservative religious figures, including the late Jerry Falwell.

The logs have been made public in past administrations and can be useful in determining who influences an administration.

The Bush administration has been crafty in its efforts to keep these logs out of the public's view. In 2006, after the group sued, the White House made an agreement with the Secret Service to take possession of the visitor logs, then labeled them "presidential papers," which are exempt from disclosure under federal public record laws.

On Monday U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rightly rebuked the Bush administration, seeing its argument as nothing more than a smokescreen. He ordered the administration to turn over the documents.

That follows a decision in a separate lawsuit in which a judge ordered Vice President Dick Cheney's office to turn over its visitor logs. The administration is appealing the decision in Cheney's case and is expected to appeal Lamberth's decision as well.

If the administration had any sense of decency, it would quit wasting taxpayer money fighting these lawsuits and accept that the public has a right to know who is doing the public's business.