The latest twist in the quest to discover just how much contact disgraced lobbiest Jack Abramoff had with the current occupant of the White House his staff is in one word, troubling.
In responding to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, the government has said it has "discovered" records responsive to the request, but that they are so sensitive that pursuant to the Glomar Explore FOIA ruling, the contents of the "Sensitive Security Records" cannot be publicly revealed even though they could show whether Abramoff made more visits to the White House than those already acknowledged. The Department of Justice alleges that "The simple act of doing so ... would reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function."
Fortunately, this is not the last word in this case as Judicial Watch now gets to respond to this argument.
The government is saying that records which would reveal that one of its citizens visited the White House would somehow harm the Secret Service's protective functions. This says to me a couple of things:
1. Someone high up is directing this litigation, as staff attorneys at the Department of Justice wouldn't put forth a novel defense without specific prior approval of someone very high up the food chain; and
2. If the argument is true, just how good is the Secret Service at protecting the White House if revelations about Abramoff visiting the White House would harm its protective functions? Rather than withholding records, maybe there should be a housecleaning at Secret Service.
I hope the Court looks closely at this novel argument and looks at these documents in camera.