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Administration withholds logs on Abramoff visits

Justice Department moves to block records.

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 that the Secret Service has identified a category of highly sensitive documents that might contain information sought in a lawsuit about Abramoff's trips to the White House.

The Justice Department, citing a Cold War-era court ruling, declared that the contents of the "Sensitive Security Records" cannot be publicly revealed because they "reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function," even though they could show whether Abramoff made more visits to the White House than those already acknowledged.

"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.

A response by White House spokesman Trey Bohn referred to the Secret Service: "We have nothing to add to the USSS position as stated in the court filing."

To date, the government has turned over Secret Service records referring to seven White House visits by Abramoff.

The White House has released little information about the visits, but none of them appears to involve a small group meeting with President Bush.

In January 2006, just after Abramoff had pleaded guilty in an influence peddling scandal, Bush told reporters, "I can't say I didn't ever meet" Abramoff, "but I meet a lot of people."

Abramoff then sent an e-mail to the national editor of Washingtonian magazine saying that Bush had seen him "in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows." Time magazine reported that its reporters had been shown five photographs of Bush and Abramoff.

The Justice Department investigation of Abramoff and his team of lobbyists has led to convictions of a dozen people, including former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former White House official David Safavian and former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles.

Abramoff is serving six years in prison on a criminal case out of Florida. He has not yet been sentenced on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion stemming from the influence-peddling scandal in Washington.

[Last modified December 2, 2007, 01:12:47]