Editorials

Before he landed behind bars, lobbyist Jack Abramoff was a Republican mover and shaker.

He was a benefactor of the 1990s Republican effort to paint Washington lobbyists in Red State red. He dabbled in Alabama politics, helping a Mississippi Indian casino secretly fund anti-lottery forces. He was a big-time friend of the Bush administration, making hundreds of contacts in one 10-month period of 2001. The mind reels imagining the volume of contacts and White House visits between then and early 2006, when Abramoff was convicted on fraud charges.

The Bush White House would just as soon let it remain in your imagination. It claims the logs are secret. It’s a matter of — all together now — national security.

Not so, said a federal judge Monday. Who visits the White House is a matter of public record, according to the ruling. Let’s put a little sunshine on that visitor log.