Press "Enter" to skip to content

DEMS INTRODUCE MAR-A-LAGO ACT TO DISCLOSE ‘SOUTHERN WHITE HOUSE’ VISITOR RECORDS

[3/25/17]  Democrats have introduced the creatively acronymized MAR-A-LAGO Act requiring the White House to publish the visitor log for Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort where he has spent nearly a quarter of his time in office.

Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act,” or the MAR-A-LAGO Act was introduced Thursday by Senators Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) and Tom Carper (D-Delaware).

A House version of the bill is also being introduced by Congressman Mike Quigley (D-Illinois).

The legislation would force Trump to publish the visitor logs at the White House and various other Trump Organization properties frequented by the president, including Trump Tower in New York City, the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey and the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which Trump has dubbed the “southern White House.

The bill comes after the Trump administration refused to continue a policy established by former President Barack Obama, who regularly released the visitor logs for the White House three to four months after they were created.

John Wonderlich, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, says the Obama policy of publishing the visitor logs “provided the American public with a meaningful window into the influence and operations of the White House, despite its flaws,” according to a press release from Udall.

The current visitor log on the White House website says that it “is being updated,” but Democrats say they want to see visitor logs on the page by April 20.

In a letter to Trump and William Callahan, the Secret Service deputy director, many of the same Democratic lawmakers asked that the visitor logs be reinstated, citing the lack of transparency in the Trump administration.

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,” they said.