Who Visits the Clintons?
Last fall after questions regarding former President Bill Clinton's business dealings came to light, CBS News sought to answer the question – who visits the Clinton's Chappaqua home? Since the former president has Secret Service protection, each visitor is public record.
The long-lost answer is no one but maintenance workers, maids and landscapers.
"How can they give this to you with a straight face?" says Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch who has been locked in his own battle with the Secret Service over White House visitor logs.
The saga spans six months. On November 21, 2007, CBS News filed a freedom of information request for a year and a half's worth of visitation logs from the Clinton Chappaqua home.
Four months later CBS received a letter from the Secret Service stating "there are no records or documents pertaining to your request." Stunned, we asked the Secret Service, how could this be? They recanted. It was a mistake, they said. There are records, it would just take time for redaction and clearance.
A month later, CBS received the logs for six months … 100% redacted. The only visible notations were the date and the time the visitor came and went. The letter cited two reasons for the redactions: privacy and the records were related to internal personnel rules.
Within days we filed an appeal. If taxpayers pay for the Clinton's security, we argued, why can't the public see who visits their home? Still the legal deadline passed with no response. It took a call from our lawyer to shake anything loose.
We finally got their response, six months after the original request. No names but affiliations were now listed. Foreign leaders? Corporate executives? No, it's the pool guy, the painter and many landscapers.
What do we conclude?
The Secret Service does not record the names of anyone other than the home maintenance workers who visit the Clintons…or we can assume, no one visits the Clintons except for maids and the occasional camera crew. Even when it's obvious that they are having a party, (visit from party rental and caterers) the guests are not logged.
It takes the Secret Service six months and a legal appeal to reveal something as sensitive as the fact that the Con Ed guy checks the meters at the Clinton home.
Despite redacting the name and social security numbers of every single person who visits the Clintons citing privacy concerns, the Secret Service accidentally leaves the name and social security numbers of the Clinton's maid, general contractor and electrician exposed. Kathy Shaffer of the general counsel's office at the Secret Service concedes, "that was probably done inadvertently."
Farrell of Judicial Watch says, "It raises question as to whether or not the Secret Service is logging entry of all people visiting the home, if not it is very curious." He adds, "I guess the real question is, who really does visit the Clintons?"
© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. The long-lost answer is no one but maintenance workers, maids and landscapers.
"How can they give this to you with a straight face?" says Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch who has been locked in his own battle with the Secret Service over White House visitor logs.
The saga spans six months. On November 21, 2007, CBS News filed a freedom of information request for a year and a half's worth of visitation logs from the Clinton Chappaqua home.
Four months later CBS received a letter from the Secret Service stating "there are no records or documents pertaining to your request." Stunned, we asked the Secret Service, how could this be? They recanted. It was a mistake, they said. There are records, it would just take time for redaction and clearance.
A month later, CBS received the logs for six months … 100% redacted. The only visible notations were the date and the time the visitor came and went. The letter cited two reasons for the redactions: privacy and the records were related to internal personnel rules.
Within days we filed an appeal. If taxpayers pay for the Clinton's security, we argued, why can't the public see who visits their home? Still the legal deadline passed with no response. It took a call from our lawyer to shake anything loose.
We finally got their response, six months after the original request. No names but affiliations were now listed. Foreign leaders? Corporate executives? No, it's the pool guy, the painter and many landscapers.
What do we conclude?
The Secret Service does not record the names of anyone other than the home maintenance workers who visit the Clintons…or we can assume, no one visits the Clintons except for maids and the occasional camera crew. Even when it's obvious that they are having a party, (visit from party rental and caterers) the guests are not logged.
It takes the Secret Service six months and a legal appeal to reveal something as sensitive as the fact that the Con Ed guy checks the meters at the Clinton home.
Despite redacting the name and social security numbers of every single person who visits the Clintons citing privacy concerns, the Secret Service accidentally leaves the name and social security numbers of the Clinton's maid, general contractor and electrician exposed. Kathy Shaffer of the general counsel's office at the Secret Service concedes, "that was probably done inadvertently."
Farrell of Judicial Watch says, "It raises question as to whether or not the Secret Service is logging entry of all people visiting the home, if not it is very curious." He adds, "I guess the real question is, who really does visit the Clintons?"
Posted by anappleadae at 02:07 AM : May 30, 2008
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What%u2019s wrong with Muslims. Are you aware that there are over 1.4 billion Muslims in the world? That''s more than the number of Catholics. In your puny mind are all Muslims terrorists? Do all Buddhists believe in self-immolation? Are all Catholics pedophiles? And what wrong with atheists, or Mormons? are you a religious bigot, a racist bigot, or both?
The pastor is right- Clinton thinks she is entitled to it- the truth is finally spoken and everyone can''t handle it! What a bunch hypocritical Democrats! The DUMMIES ARE DOOMED.
(AP) Federal regulators are six months into a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation.
It becomes increasingly apparent that there has been wide spread manipulation of the Oil Markets for a lot longer than 6 months & it doesn''''t take a Rocket Scientist to figure that out. Big Oil, Energy, Congress, & The Global Warming Agenda all have had a hand in it. The question is just who or what agency is going to have the courage to stand up to big Oil, the lobbyist, congress & the global warming crowd that is laughing at us all the way to the bank.
Hillary & the Demo Congress now receive record contributions for their campaigns. Expect nothing to happen during election year. These people will continue to rake in record contributions while the rest of us are just part of their food chain.
You can bank on that.
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Posted by citadelma at 06:15 PM : May 29, 2008
Yeah, we are, aren''t we...hopefully we''ll have a president that gives a *** about the people...instead of a whack job racist intimidation marketing campaign shill!