Senate

Senate Dems want Mar-a-Lago visitor records made public

by Jordain Carney - 03/06/17 2:32 PM ET

Senate Democrats are pressing the Trump administration to publicly release logs of visitors to the White House and Mar-a-Lago.

Seven Democratic senators sent a letter on Monday to President Trump and William Callahan, the Secret Service deputy director, asking that they continue the Obama-era practice and extend it to the Florida resort, which Trump has referred to as his “winter White House.”

“It is now over one month into your Administration and you have yet to announce whether you will continue a policy of transparency with respect to individuals who visit the White House complex,” the senators wrote to the president.

They added that there is “no reason” why the Trump administration couldn’t release the visitor logs, adding that he should “extend those policies to address your decision to regularly conduct official business at private properties that also provide access to certain members of the public.”

{mosads}The White House’s visitor access records page is being “updated,” according to the White House website.

“It will post records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis, once they become available,” it adds.

The Democrats note in their letter to Trump that if he’s planning to continue the Obama-era policy, they should expect to start seeing visitor logs as soon as April 20. The Obama administration published the logs roughly three to four months after they were created.

Trump has reportedly spent nearly a quarter of his time as president in the Sunshine State, playing host to foreign leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at his resort.

The senators are also asking Callahan to detail how it will conduct background checks for visitors when Trump conducts official business on private property, including Mar-a-Lago, and if any decision has been made about making visitor logs public.

Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Tom Carper (Del.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) signed the letters.

The Democrats note that Whitehouse and Udall previously requested in a February letter that Trump make Mar-a-Lago membership and visitor lists public, but didn’t receive a response.

Senators are asking that Trump and Callahan respond to Monday’s letters by March 15.

Tags Jack Reed Kirsten Gillibrand Richard Blumenthal Ron Wyden Tom Carper Tom Udall