WASHINGTON – A federal judge ruled on Monday that White House visitor logs are public records and ordered the Secret Service to turn over information regarding the visits of nine prominent Christian leaders to an advocacy group.
The ruling is in response to a suit by a government watchdog group suspicious about the amount of influence the conservative leaders have on the Bush administration.
“We think that these conservative Christian leaders have had a very big impact,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which filed the case, according to Reuters.
“The White House doesn’t want to talk about how much influence these leaders have, and we want to talk about how much they do have,” she said.
The judge has ordered the Secret Service to produce the records to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics within 20 days, according to CNN.
Among the visitation records requested are those of James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Gary Bauer of American Values, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America and the Moral Majority co-founder Jerry Falwell, who died in May.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for creating the logs, has argued that disclosing the records would reveal confidential policy deliberations. It also argued that the records are not under its control but are protected presidential documents.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth rejected the arguments as “misguided,” according to Reuters.
“Knowledge of these visitors would not disclose presidential communications or shine a light on the President’s or Vice President’s policy deliberations,” Lamberth wrote in his opinion, as reported by The Washington Post.
CREW had also filed separate petitions for White House visitor logs regarding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last year to public corruption charges.
The Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the agency is reviewing the ruling and has not decided whether to file an appeal.
Conservative Christian leaders remain the core supporter of President Bush, even as his national public approval falls. Many of these same Christian leaders under scrutiny helped mobilized voters to elect and re-elect Bush into office.
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To paraphrase JC - The end times are coming because of the gays.
There are no grounds to release these logs. The judicial branch does not have authority nor jurisdiction in this matter. If Congress wants them, they can request them. But no law has been broken.
Online4Him said, “… it would be interesting to know exactly what these leaders are discussing.”
I’d like to know that to. Especially since so many of the Christian leaders he often talks to are always talking about – THE END OF THE WORLD!
Regardless how one feels about this president and his administration; it would be interesting to know exactly what these leaders are discussing.
To Didymus:
Dear one, you are unfortunately correct when saying that sometimes Christians can be jerks. We just can hope and pray that our Lord and Savior will heal those ears that we can sometimes cut off. Sometimes our motives are correct, but we act without consulting God first, and that can certainly lead to trouble. I'm certainly guilty of this, as all Christians can be from time to time.
Beloved, Christians are attempting to regain the ground because of the lost, at least that should be the true motive of anybody who claims to be a Christian. We are called to reach to the lost and lonely, the ones who know only darkness and dispair. To the ones who need a drink, we are to give them water. To the ones who need food, we are to feed them. To the one who needs their lives restored, we point them to Jesus.
This would also include the people of this and future generations. We live in a generation where the culture is teaching that homosexual behavior is normal, where abortion is normal, where sex outside marriage is normal. This is why Christians are making a fuss, not to prevent the End Times from coming, but to reach the ones who are being force fed this junk, and to show them truth. It is these that are our interest.
Beloved, I'm not at all saying that there are not crackpots out there who claim to say things in the name of Jesus. There's always been that, and until Jesus comes back, there will be more. Jesus said Himself that many will claim to be the Christ, but to not be deceived. How are we not deceived? Easy, the Word confirms the Word. If anybody tells you they are speaking for God, yet it does not line up perfectly with His word, it is not from God. Simple as that. "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." (Rev 19:13) They will never disagree with each other, for they are one in the same.
JC,
You said, “The world hates Jesus, so it will hate us.”
That’s not always true. Sometimes the world hates us simply because we are actually being jerks. It’s not unheard of that those who go by the name “Christian” are often far worldlier than the rest of the “worldly” folks.
As for your POV on prophecy fulfillment, a question: Why are so many “conservative Christians” who believe that end-times prophecy is being fulfilled, trying so hard to counter it? Yes, Christians are “losing ground” as you said, and if this is a fulfillment of prophecy, then why are those same Christians trying so hard to get that ground back? This reminds me one guy who tried to reverse the flow of prophecy, and Jesus told him, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
George W Bush, President of The United States is God's man in the White House. For such a time as this he was placed in this authority by Almighty God. There is no government but God's! He is the ultimate authority. Any man or woman, living in disobedience and rebellion, who does not call upon the Name of the LORD is lost.
George knows Jesus Christ, is he a perfect man, no, no man is. No one on this site knows George Bush's heart, only God does. Laura Bush is a wonderful Christian lady, and I pray for them both. There is so much evidence for God; if one is truly looking for Him! but if you are not looking for Him you won't find Him or the evidence, you claim to want.
Amen JC: This is all prophetic what is happening in our nation and in our world. It's growing to grow worse for we followers of Jesus Christ, but that's okay; because we do not fear any man! The Lord and King is on his way! Let us hold onto our faith and keep praying as we see the Day of Christ coming! Citizen, you can keep denying God, but that will not stop God's plan from moving forward. One day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD!
I for one am so glad that our President does indeed seek wise counsel among Christian leaders! Too many Christians attack this man instead of praying for him, not any one of us is perfect, we are all works in progress. Mr. Bush holds this Office by God's design. Pray for your leaders, that means Mr. President as well. We are to be salt and light to this dying world, and for so many who judge Mr. Bush, let me share with you this, how you judge him, is how you will be judged yourself. If you are so right with God and have the plank out of your own eye then you can judge rightly.
I as a Christian am so glad that Mr. President takes God's word and has good, sound Christian counseling visiting him!! Praise God!
Citizen, then you must be mythical too :o) cause God created you!
To Citizen:
You said: "It's the beginning of end of christian privilege, not the entire world. Its just that Christians are sometimes arrogant enough to confuse the two."
Dear one, you have a strange way of putting it, "Christian privilege", but you are also correct in that currently we are losing ground. The world hates Jesus, so it will hate us. However, just in case you were not aware, this by itself fulfills prophecy. It is suppose to happen. And, the sad thing is, you are actually helping to facilitate it, and you don't even know it.
And, just in case you don't believe in prophecy beloved, I direct you to look at any World Atlas. On it, you will find a country called Israel. For 2500 years, Israel was thought to never exist again by unbelievers. Yet, there it is. How is that possible? Lucky guess perhaps by the writers of the Old Testament perhaps?
Take a look for yourself dear one, God's love is all around us, in every thread and fiber of creation. You yourself have life, is this not enough to thank Him for?
Yahshema said, “…so do these folk think that the President is some kind of puppet.”
It’s probably the other way around. The Bush administration probably thinks these Christian leaders are their puppets. They’re probably right.
Citizen said, “It's the beginning of end of christian privilege, not the entire world. Its just that Christians are sometimes arrogant enough to confuse the two.”
I have to agree with you. And it’s a good thing, “Christian privilege” has been remarkably destructive on Christianity. To much power has gone to its head.
It seems a bit weird that they want to know in advance when the leaders are coming. Do they intend to do something to stop the talks. I know that I can talk all day but no matter what I say, its up to the individual to make up their own mind--so do these folk think that the President is some kind of puppet.
HidingBehindNickname: awww, I missed you, too! Although I'm peeved at you, because I clearly recall you accusing Dannygirlagain of being a plant as well. I thought we had something special together! *sobs*
JC: It's the beginning of end of christian privilege, not the entire world. Its just that Christians are sometimes arrogant enough to confuse the two.
JC: Don't feed the troll! Citizen is a plant by CP to stir up discussion. Just ignore him like everyone else should.
Notice he gave himself a thumbs up? ;-)
You're right about one thing Citizen, these are the end times.
I never would have imagined this in the U.S., where a president would be ridiculed and mocked for talking with Christian leaders. But, yet here it is.
The funny thing about this, didn't Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama just give a speech in a church about their faith?
I smell political agenda, and not really any ethical search for truth.
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I also read this on Yahoo News:
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Tuesday defended his Christmas ad amid suggestions that the ordained Baptist minister had gone too far mixing religion and politics.
Again, didn't Clinton and Obama do the same thing when they professed their faith in the church.
I guess it is only acceptable to the press when they think you actually don't believe what you are saying.
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Beloved, this is just the beginning of the beginning of the birth pangs. Keep Jesus in your heart and the focus of your attention. To those that endure, these will be granted life in His kingdom. To those that refuse Him, He will also refuse those. To those who deny Him, He will also deny those.