"Trump is avoiding criticism about who visits him, and he’s avoiding scrutiny by voiding the voluntary disclosure policy," said John Wonderlich, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, which favors public disclosure of government affairs. "This study tells us that the Obama administration did have deep ties with CEOs of top American companies," Wonderlich said. "The Trump administration is also going to have deep ties." According to the finance professors' research, the three people in the White House who were most visited were Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, with 107 visits; Jeffrey Zients, director of the Office of Management and Budget and later director of the National Economic Council, with 103 visits; and Obama himself, with 100 visits.
Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former president, said Obama had no immediate comment on the research. GE pointed out Immelt's White House appointment. Honeywell didn't have an immediate comment. Evercore declined to comment.
Brown, the co-author, is familiar with the White House, having served as a senior economist on President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers in 2001 and 2002. He served on Bush's Social Security Advisory Board from 2006 to 2008.
The Obama administration voluntarily released logs of all White House visits except for personal family visits and sensitive personnel matters such as visits of potential Supreme Court nominees. Previous presidents had more restrictive disclosure policies.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.