Bush's Abramoff Coverup Could Protect Him and the So Far Unindicted Congressman John Doolittle from Prosecution

White House cites security

PETE YOST; The Associated Press
Published: December 2nd, 2007 01:00 AM


WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is laying out a new secrecy defense in an effort to end a court battle about the White House visits of now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The administration agreed last year to produce all responsive records about the visits “without redactions or claims of exemption,” according to a court order.
But in a court filing Friday night, administration lawyers said the Secret Service has identified a category of highly sensitive documents that might contain information sought in a lawsuit about Abramoff’s White House visits.
The Justice Department, citing a Cold War-era court ruling, declared that 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 simple act of doing so ... would reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function,” the Justice Department argued.
“This is an extraordinary development and it raises the specter that there were additional contacts with President Bush or other high White House officials that have yet to be disclosed,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that filed the suit.
White House spokesman Trey Bohn’s response referred to the Secret Service, saying, “We have nothing to add to the USSS position as stated in the court filing.”
Sensitive Security Records are created in the course of conducting more extensive background checks on certain visitors to the White House.