Judicial Watch, a conservative, non-partisan group that promotes greater transparency in government, takes exception with Vice President Dick Cheney's decision to destroy logs of visitors to his residence in keeping with a general policy of secrecy that has obstructed inquiry into convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's relationship with the White House.

Abramoff's visits to the White House have been cloaked by new policy in the Bush Administration to keep visit records secret which makes it harder for citizens and groups interested in accountability -- particularly when it comes to a scandal of the reach and magnitude of Abramoff's influence-peddling -- to get our hands on the truth.

Surely there is a way by which the White House can preserve the confidentiality of certain visits related to national security etc. while disclosing in full those encounters between White House officials and lobbyists convicted of buying power and influence in Washington so that we might know whether national policy has been put up for sale.