Burton subpoenas White House visitor lists, overnight records

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, on Monday issued a subpoena to the White House for all records related to the sharing of lists of visitors and overnight guests to the White House and Camp David from January 1, 1999 to the present.

The subpoena is part of the Reform Committee's continuing investigation into campaign practices, which it started in 1997.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged that her U.S. Senate campaign was in error last Friday when she confirmed that 1,400 of 350,000 fund-raising letters were sent to official White House visitors.

"It was an error," she said, "and as soon as the campaign found out about it, we immediately moved to take action. We discovered the practical effect was [that] five people [had] made contributions totaling $250, and we're returning those."

In September, the White House released a list of 361 guests who stayed overnight at the White House or Camp David over a 13-month period. The release of the list was an effort to defuse charges that Mrs. Clinton rewarded contributors with special stays at the White House or Camp David.

Most of those visitors were found not to be contributors to Mrs. Clinton's campaign. The list did not include the dates of the visits, so it was not possible to check them against the dates of any contributions.

The subpoena does not single out the first lady's campaign and could cover the sharing of any lists of White House visitors with "any campaign committee from January 1, 1999, to the present."

A White House spokesman said, "We have received Chairman Burton's subpoena and the [White House] counsel's office is working to comply with it."

The White House has until October 23 to respond to the subpoena.