Eight Democratic senators have sent a letter calling on President Donald Trump's administration to release visitor logs from the president's part-time Palm Beach home, the Mar-a-Lago Club, and from the White House.
The group — which is led by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island — also sent a letter to Secret Service Deputy Director William J. Callahan asking for more information on the visitor logs, and how guests to Mar-a-Lago are being screened.
The president just wrapped up his most recent visit to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday. While there, he met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and adviser Steve Bannon.
Citing the Obama administration's policy of releasing White House visitor logs within 90 to 120 days of their creation and Trump’s four weekends spent at Mar-a-Lago as president, the senators say the policy should be extended to include the private Palm Beach club, for which members pay a reported $200,000 initiation cost and a $14,000 annual fee.
“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,” reads the letter to Callahan. “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.”
The Palm Beach Post has reached out to the White House for comment. A page on the White House website titled Visitor Access Records reads: "This page is being updated. It will post records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis, once they become available."
The letters come about three weeks after Trump hosted the Japanese prime minister at the lavish, historic estate. There, the heads of state prepared for a news conference on a North Korean missile launch at a table on Mar-a-Lago’s open-air terrace, a move that drew scrutiny as diners quickly shared photos of the scene on social media, raising questions about the handling of possibly sensitive materials. The White House rebuffed those claims, saying that no classified material was discussed publicly, and that the president was briefed in a classified room.
In addition to the White House and Mar-a-Lago, the letters ask the Trump administration to release visitor logs for Trump Tower in New York City and the president’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club — where he conducted interviews with potential Cabinet members during his transition — as well as other Trump properties.
>> Got a question about the news? See our explainers here
“The Democrats are obscene,” said Palm Beach resident and Mar-a-Lago member Toni Holt Kramer. “They are trying to run a second government, to distress our president. Mar-a-Lago is a private club.”
This isn’t the first letter sent to the White House by senators requesting information on Mar-a-Lago visitors. On Feb. 3 — the day Trump traveled to Palm Beach for his first weekend at Mar-a-Lago since his inauguration — Whitehouse and U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, of New Mexico sent a letter to the president requesting a list of the club’s members.
Though a news release from the White House office said those records haven't been released, both the New York Times and Politico obtained copies. Reportedly among the ranks of members are industrialist William I. Koch and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
If the Trump administration opts to not release the White House visitor records, it wouldn’t be the first to do so. President George W. Bush’s administration fought in court to keep its visitor logs under wraps, saying they were White House records and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit, brought by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, carried into the Obama administration, which enacted its policy after two federal judges ruled in favor of CREW.
Joining Whitehouse and Udall in signing the letter: U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut; Thomas Carper, Delaware; Kirsten Gillibrand, New York; Jack Reed, Rhode Island; Chris Van Hollen, Maryland; and Ron Wyden, Oregon.
Each letter contains a list of questions, with a requested deadline for answers by March 15. The questions include: “Have you decided to continue the policy of releasing White House visitor logs to the public? If so, are you making any changes to that policy and why?” and, referring to the systems that track White House guests and their personal information, “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 (on) people who will be present during President Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago?”
About the Author
