White House visitor logs offer clues into sources for Bob Woodward's new book

One of Washington’s favorite parlor games — guessing Bob Woodward’s sources — will start up when the famous reporter’s first book about the Obama administration is released later this month. 

But thanks to White House visitor records, there are already some clues about which of the president’s advisers talked to the investigative journalist for his latest book, Obama’s Wars.

Woodward, who helped expose the Watergate scandal as a reporter at The Washington Post, visited the White House complex at least 13 times from May 2009 to April 2010, according to records released by the administration.

Not surprisingly, the records show Woodward had access to some of the biggest names in the White House, including David Axelrod, President Obama’s top political aide. 

Axelrod hosted Woodward at least three times, records show, though it is likely the two met more than that.

Eric Lesser, Axelrod’s assistant, hosted Woodward at least twice, according to records. White House officials sometimes have their assistants listed as their visitors’ hosts in the records rather than themselves, so those two visits may actually have been with Axelrod. 

Woodward also visited White House press secretary Robert Gibbs at least once, in November 2009, according to the logs.

Former President George W. Bush never released his visitor records and was sued in court over it. Obama has a voluntary visitor records release policy; he makes the majority of the logs public, but holds back some for national security reasons. Visits by potential Supreme Court nominees are also omitted. 

The visitor records available to the public total more than 600,000 entries and cover the period from when Obama took office, in January 2009, through May 2010.

Woodward is also listed as having visited other, lower-profile — though still senior — administration officials. He visited Ginger Lew, a senior adviser to the White House’s National Economic Council, in June 2009. That same month, the reporter checked in on Bob Kocher, a healthcare expert and once a senior aide to the National Economic Council. In May 2009, Woodward met with Susan Crawford, then a White House technology adviser. 

Woodward interviewed Obama for his book, but it is unclear from the White House records when that talk took place. It’s possible it occurred sometime this past summer during a period for which records have yet to be released.

It’s also possible that Woodward interviewed Vice President Joe Biden. One of Biden’s press aides, Elizabeth Allen, is listed as Woodward’s host for a trio of visits in April of this year, according to records. 

A White House spokesman declined to comment on the visits. A spokesman for Biden likewise did not respond to questions.

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