The Obama administration pledged to be “the most transparent presidential administration in history,” but White House staffers have met "hundreds of times" with lobbyists at unofficial locations, and used private email accounts to coordinate with lobbyists, in order to evade public record and avoid reporting the meetings. CREW wants the House to investigate.
As a candidate and as president, Obama has been sharply critical of lobbyists and their influence in the political process. He pledged to institute greater transparency and to close the revolving lobby door in Washington.
“It is outrageous that White House staff are deliberately using personal email accounts – in violation of the law – to hide the fact that they are in touch with lobbyists,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a paper statement. “This is what all the administration’s anti-lobbyist rhetoric gets you – less transparency. Rather than being open and clear about who is influencing White House policy, the White House is trying to hide who it’s really talking to. Even worse, the public is being suckered with lofty rhetoric about the evils of the same lobbyists White House officials are meeting with.”
Welcome to Washington, DC business as usual, where EVERYONE says one thing and does another. Remind me again why we all put up with this shit?
...Oh, right. Because something like 70% or 80% of the voters don't care.