Watchdog groups have been pressing the Trump administration to release visitor logs kept during President Trump's trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort. And on Friday, the government complied — with a whole 22 names.
Facing a court-ordered deadline, the Department of Justice released a single email listing 22 Mar-a-Lago visitors, most of whom were attending to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe during his trip to the resort with Trump.
Needless to say, this didn't satisfy those trying to access the department's full visitor logs. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called it "spitting in the eye of transparency."
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Trump's habit of visiting his properties has generated newfound public interest in who patronizes those establishments. USA Today previously tallied 50 corporate executives with government contracts and 21 lobbyists and trade group officials who paid to attend Trump's clubs and could have access to the president.
Government visitors can cause ethical problems, too: A recently uncovered receipt shows just over $1,000 paid by the National Security Council for an official's two-night stay at Mar-a-Lago. Profits from those taxpayer dollars flow to a trust fund that Trump controls.
