Obama says his is ‘most transparent administration' ever

President Obama on Thursday hailed his administration for its transparency.

“This is the most transparent administration in history,” Obama said during a Google Plus “Fireside” Hangout.

“I can document that this is the case,” he continued. “Every visitor that comes into the White House is now part of the public record. Every law we pass and every rule we implement we put online for everyone to see.”

The president said this holds true even on the issue of the attack on a U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, a controversy which he said was “driven by campaign” politics and one that Congressional Republicans were clinging to even though they’ve “run out of questions.”

“Benghazi is not a good example,” Obama said. “We’ve had more testimony and more paper than ever before.”

The president has also been criticized – even by some liberals – for his use of drones to target terrorist suspects abroad, some of whom have been U.S. citizens. Obama said there are “a handful of issues, mostly surrounding national security,” that require some confidentiality.

However, the president pledged to be open about how drones are used, saying the public will “know the parameters” around the program.

“What I think is absolutely true is it’s not sufficient for citizens to just take my word for it that we’re doing the right thing,” Obama said.

The president added that there are different policies on how drones are used abroad, compared to how they’re used in the United States.

“I think there’s never been a drone used on an American citizen on American soil,” Obama said. “We respect and have a whole bunch of safeguards into how we conduct counter-terrorism outside the United States ... the rules are different inside the United States.

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