Letter to Deputy Director William J. Callahan - Release White House Visitor Logs

Letter

We write for information on the continuation and potential extension of the policy of providing public access to visitor logs for the White House complex, and to request you commit to similar measures for Mar-a-Lago and other locations where the President regularly conducts official business. This policy, adopted to cover records starting in September 2009, is responsible for making public the names of nearly six million visitors to the White House. As of the date of this letter, the Trump Administration has not indicated whether it will continue this policy.

It would be a significant setback to efforts to give the public insight into who influences the White House if this policy were to be discontinued or limited. Indeed, given the unique aspects of how President Trump has decided to conduct official business, we believe he needs to do even more just to meet the benchmark of transparency set by President Obama. President Trump has already taken four trips to his so-called "Winter White House" at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, during which he conducted official business in full view of Mar-a-Lago members and their guests. During his transition, then President-elect Trump worked at the Trump Tower and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, two locations that are also open to certain members of the public. Recently released audio of one post-election visit to Bedminster captured then President-elect Trump inviting members to "come around" as he interviewed people to serve in his Administration.

President Trump's conduct of official business at private property to which some members of the public have access appears to be unprecedented in recent times. While we appreciate that every President has the right to some privacy when not in the White House, this President has invited members of the public, who in many cases have paid significant amounts of money for access to him, to watch official business be conducted and has in some cases sought their advice during these breaks from Washington. To help us understand what steps this Administration is doing to maintain transparency and ensure proper vetting of individuals with access to the President and his staff, we request answers to the following questions:

What determination, if any, has been made to continue making White House visitor logs from the Workers and Visitors Entry System (WAVES) and the Access Control Records system (ACR) available to the public?
If there is a plan to continue to make these records available, will the policy differ from President Obama's? If so, how and why?

Are the WAVES and the ACR systems being used for Mar-a-Lago? If not, what other steps are being taken to conduct background checks people who will be present during President Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago?

Is the Secret Service considering extending these systems, or any other security screenings, for Trump Tower, Bedminster, or other Trump properties at which the President may spend time conducting official businesses? If not, why not?

If security screening systems are being put in place outside the White House, who will be responsible for collecting and maintaining these records, what information will be collected, and where and in what format it will be stored? Will information from those systems be made available to the public? If so, will that information be disclosed under the same conditions as White House visitor logs in the Obama Administration?

We request the courtesy of any answer to these questions no later than March 15, 2017.