Obama panned for following Bush's policy of keeping White House visitors logs secret

Washington, June 17 (ANI): US President Barack Obama has been criticized for embracing the policies of the former Bush administration, by denying public access to White House visitor logs.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a complaint against the Obama administration in this regard.

The group has asked the administration to release the information about the visits of coal company executives who had visited the White House recently, The Washington Post reports.

"The Obama administration has now taken exactly the same position as the Bush administration.I don't see how you can keep people from knowing who visits the White House and adhere to a policy of openness and transparency," the chief counsel for CREW Anne Weismann said.

When enquired about the issue, the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs said that the visitor logs have been involved in litigation from 2006 itself, and that the White House is reviewing its policies in this regard.

It may be noted that the Bush administration had said that the logs were presidential records, and were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. (ANI)