Mar-a-Lago guest list
Judge orders release of list of Trump’s visitors
The public could soon get a glimpse of who is visiting President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Afederal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release logs of visitors to Mar-a-Lago for presidential business by Sept. 8 in response to a lawsuit brought by three government watchdog groups.
“The public deserves to know who is coming to meet with the president and his staff,” said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit.
Trump has hosted high-profile visits from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mara-Lago, but many of his guests remain a mystery.
David Lapan, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, declined to comment Monday.
Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago seven times since becoming president. He last visited for the Easter holiday, and he’s expected to return when Palm Beach’s social season resumes in the fall.
The lawsuit also seeks the release of visitor logs for the White House in Washington and Trump Tower in New York City. Two other groups pushing for greater transparency in government — the National Security Archive and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia
University— are also involved.
In news briefings, White House officials have cited national security and the privacy concerns of visitors for not releasing the logs. Trump vowed transparency during his campaign, promising to “drain the swamp” and rid Washington of corruption.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also sued the Obama administration in pursuit of White House visitor logs. The Obama administration began voluntarily releasing visitor logs in 2009 as pressure from public interest groups mounted. Records before then had not been released.
The administration routinely removed names of visitors deemed to be involved in sensitive matters involving intelligence or national security.
In 2013, a federal appeals court ruled White House visitor logs could be kept secret, but the Obama administration continued to provide them with some names omitted.
Congressional Democrats have pressed Trump to release visitor information, introducing legislation titled the “Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act,” or theMar-a-Lago Act.
Mar-a-Lago is a not only Trump’s part-time residence, but it’s also aprivate social club. Membership fees for the club doubled to $200,000 shortly after Trumpwas elected.
Charity events have also been held there for years — spanning from galas benefiting hospitals to fundraisers for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County.
In February, a guest snapped a photo in a dining room at Mar-a-Lago of Trump huddling with Japan’s prime minister shortly after a North Korean ballistic missile test. The pictures, which were posted on social media, sparked concerns that theTrumpteam handled a sensitive national security issue in public.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters at the time no classified informationwas revealed at the table.
South Florida politicians have also been guests atMar-a-Lago since Trump won the election, including Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach.
Frankel participated in a protest march against Trump in February and then mingled withTrump later that evening at a charity event benefiting theRed Cross.