Presidential Security Clearance

Seems to me President Carter wanted the full scoop on the UFO problem when he became President and CIA Director (Bonesman) HW Bush refused his request.

Since Carter could have replaced HW Bushky on the spot, I suppose if the refusal did occur Bush must have told the President there were a lot of Agencies/Military etc.. who supported Bushky's denial of Classified UFO info to Mr Carter.

Dallas

As many have Said, it's based on Need to Know! The President isn't given access to anything he doesn't need to do his Job. Also, noone is Ever given Access to everything for security reasons! There are too many secret for one person to know anyway. Back in 1990 the National Archives stated that they had in excess of 9'800 sq. Feet of classified documents from before World War 2 awating classification review!

Tim

yep, NTK is the rule for security clearances. Lets say I am int he military as a ranger tasked with doing covert ops. and I meet a Navy SEAL that does the same. We both have a top secret clearance of the same level, and work on projects of the same level of classification. If we were to discuss our respect classified misions with one another we could be arrested for not following proper procedure, and for distributing classified information because even though we both had the proper clearance level, we did not have the proper NTK for each others assignments.

I am certain that the president and many other high ranking political figures (house and senate arms services comitee, sec def, sec energy, etc) are all given a TS clearance upon election or appointment, however they do not get the NTK for everything under them, only what they actually need to know at that time, of if it comes up and needs their attention. The sec def can not call up the drawings of all the nuclear weapons int eh stockpile and study them for fun, he does not have a NTK for them. However if one were to start having safety and reliability issues and he needed to sit in on meetings about it, he would be given the NTK and the needed schematics to follow as they talked about the problem.

The POTUS has the highest Security Clarance and the broadest Need-to-Know of anyone in the goverment. It is very rare that he would be denied acess to anything. The president is also vey busy person. If he got a briefing on every single Area 51 progra he would not have time to do the job. POTUS tended to be more interested in what the intellgence means then how they got it. If knowing the source will help him to do his job the agency in question will give up the name of the source or explain the techique.

The president, vice-president and certain members of congress are statutory exceptions to the need for a personnel security investigation.

Need to know is there. I have a TS. Think I can walk into the Command Post at my base and demand War Orders? Not gonna happen.

Now I have another perspective to try out here. Think of all the projects he has going on under him. Black projects, nukes, money, the population. You really think he has time to just sit and listen to briefings all day on what Area 51, NORAD, and Cheyenne are doing? That would be overwhelming I imagine. How could he retain all that? Besides, the less people that know, the less there is a chance it will leak. Simple physics and engineering. If a canister of fluid has one weak point you have a chance of a leak. Add 7 more weak points and your leak possibility goes way up

If I were Pres I would not have the time to sit all day and wonder and be breifed as to what is happening.

Then again, maybe our good ole media is at work again. How exactly do we know ID-4 is accurate?

-Kyo

I imagine that the president has access to any information held by the executive branch regardless of clearance, this is because he can simply order any information to be given to him by anyone in the executive branch and/or override any executive branch policy, related to clearance, as he wishes. All executive authority, ultimately, rests in the president's office. On a practical level the government is huge, and too large for any single person to manage, so the president's powers have been delegated to others that serve within the executive branch. This means that eventhough clerance has no real meaning/bearing to the president there are probably many things he is not aware of simply because other people are responsible for managing them and it is expected that these people/organizations would inform the president whenever necessary or whenever requested by him.

I have been following this thread and the one on the list of clearances for quite some time.

It's always been my belief that the President does not have total access to everything, and "need to know" applies. What puzzles me now, though, is this:

Executive Order 13292

Sec. 1.3. Classification Authority. (a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:

(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;

(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register; and

(3) United States Government officials delegated this authority pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) Delegation of original classification authority.

(1) Delegations of original classification authority shall be limited to the minimum required to administer this order. Agency heads are responsible for ensuring that designated subordinate officials have a demonstrable and continuing need to exercise this authority.

(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

This seems to say that the POTUS creates the clearances and what is or is not classified and to what degree. It also, of course, delegates the authority to select others, as well.

Also, in this same order it says that the POTUS and V-POTUS may modify, and waive any or all requirements, just as Bush has done, which was soundly criticized, but affirmed.

So, if the POTUS is the determining authority, how is it that he doesn't have access to everything? I mean, if he makes the rules, and can break the rules, it stands to reason, there really aren't any rules that apply to him.

Now, I know that Congress is a Legislative body, they make law, and that the Office of the President is an executive body, they govern, who, or what body, has final authority in allowing or denying the POTUS access?

I've been searching for days, and I have yet to find even one CFR, or Act, or Law that comes close to addressing this.

[scratches head] Just trying to makes sense of it.


Thanks, evets