The White House issued its first batch of visitor logs for President Joe Biden on Friday, reinstating a practice that began during the administration of former President Barack Obama but was halted under former President Donald Trump. According to a statement reported by Politico, "These records provide the public with insights into the visitors entering and exiting the White House for appointments, tours, and official business, fulfilling President Biden's commitment to restoring integrity, transparency, and trust in government."
The released batch included 400 visitor records from January, but did not encompass records related to personal family guests or a small set of sensitive meetings. The White House pledged to publish visitor records on a monthly basis. The statement highlighted that on January 25, visitors included a group of individuals from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Intelligence who met with the president during Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's swearing-in ceremony.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most White House meetings were virtual, but the White House declined to disclose the names of those who attended these meetings. Biden faced criticism over this decision, although government groups "still praise him for going further than his predecessor Trump." The Biden administration noted that it "cannot release the complete visitor logs from the Trump era because they are now the property of the National Archives, which must obtain permission from the former president to disclose them."
Several questions have arisen regarding whether anyone involved in the Capitol events on January 6 visited Trump in the days leading up to that incident. Trump's administration had refused to release visitor logs from key White House offices, which sparked legal challenges. The administration settled a lawsuit in 2018, agreeing to publish records from some offices.
