It
is nice to know that true democracy and openness is once again reinstated inside
the White House. I clicked on the White House Visitor’s
Log and read through the list of people and companies entering and
exiting the White House campus for appointments, tours, and official business.
Interesting list …check it out!
Our
fragile democracy depends upon a presidential commitment to integrity,
transparency, and trust in government. When former President Trump directly
blocked the media and public access to all officials he met at the White House,
he broke away from the Obama administration’s practice of openness. Oddly, then
President Trump and my fictional POTUS Rhinehart in the PENUMBRA
DATABASE spy thriller both placed a cloak of secrecy over the basic
day-to-day happenings within the Oval Office.
In the Penumbra Database novel,
it was done after frequent terrorist attacks against soft targets
within America’s heartland. President Rhinehart met often with General Morrison
of the secretive Caribbean Basin Interdiction Force. CBIF’s mission was to stop
the flow of sleeper cell terrorists from sneaking into the U.S. from America’s
vulnerable southern flank, the Caribbean Basin. It was a counterintelligence
move; he wanted to shield his activities from the scrutiny of activists,
lobbyists, both political adversaries and supporters, and from his aides as
well. National security took priority over openness.
When the former President Trump announced
that he would block public access to the White House Visitor's Log, I thought
of a few scenes in the PENUMBRA DATABASE spy thriller. In the novel, the
fictional President Rhinehart used various subterfuges to hide and not reveal
the real visitors to the Oval Office. Here is a snippet from PENUMBRA
DATABASE:
The White House Oval Office
President Rhinehart looked back at Morrison, who was
seated on a matching couch across from him in the Oval Office. "As you know, our meetings
never happen, especially this one."
"I
understand fully, sir." Morrison knew the modus operandi well. All his
meetings with Rhinehart go unreported. A fictitious name appears on the White
House Visitor's Log and the press release simply says that the president had
coffee and a chat with an outside consultant over "domestic and foreign
policy issues." The records lack identifying details beyond the fabricated
name, and typos often occur by design.
On
several occasions, Morrison used a name of someone who was cleared to enter the
White House but never actually showed up. Since the surge in terrorist soft
target hits on America intensified, the Supreme Court ruled that the White
House can keep secret the records of visitors who enter the building. They are
not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
"The
intelligence that Corey Pearson gathered is very disturbing, indeed. I have
sent the USS Caribbean Sea amphibious assault ship on a training exercise off
the eastern coast of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas."
End of snippet
Unlike
in this fictional snippet account, terrorist sleeper cells have not attacked
inside the U.S. for a while. So, I wonder if it was appropriate for former President
Trump to block public access to his visitors log? Will someone, someday,
challenge his move under the FOIA? The former Trump White House communications
director Michael Dubke said the decision to reverse the Obama-era policy of
openness was due to “the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of
the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.”
Trump
is relying on a federal court ruling that most of the logs are
“presidential records” and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. I
think this ruling should be challenged. I yearn to see the visitors he met
personally within the Oval Office whom he does not want me to see.
Robert Morton is a member of the Association
of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), enjoys writing about the U.S.
Intelligence Community, and relishes traveling to the Florida Keys and Key
West, the Bahamas and Caribbean. He combines both passions in his Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster
series. Check out his latest spy thriller: MISSION
OF VENGEANCE.
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