Allen West claims he has higher security clearance than the President

[her209]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXl2GwCHlAI

What!? Isn't lying about your security clearance level a crime? Or if it isn't, shouldn't lying about a security clearance you do not have be a automatic disqualifier for whatever clearance you do have?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Well he is Batman . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjXAAS3VpeY

 

[CallMeJoe]

Well he is Batman . . .

Allen West. Not Adam.


Back OT, who wouldn't believe that a retired Lieutenant Colonel has a higher security clearance than the C in C?

 

[Narmer]

It's possible. For example, why would the president need to know about aliens? Just sayin...

 

[Zebo]

I like Allen “If it’s about the lives of my men and their safety, I’d go through Hell with a gasoline can” West.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Since the President is the ultimate classifying authority, can he give something such a high security classification that he himself is not authorized to read it?

 

[her209]

It's possible. For example, why would the president need to know about aliens? Just sayin...

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010...ot-obtain-politifact-florida-says-pants-.html

Did Allen West have a clearance that even the president cannot obtain? PolitiFact Florida says Pants on Fire

During a candidate forum sponsored by the Pompano, Fla., Civic Association on Sept. 21, 2010, Allen West -- a retired Army lieutenant colonel running as the Republican nominee against Democratic Rep. Ron Klein -- made a rather striking claim.

According to a video made by a Democratic Party operative who trails West at all of his appearances, the candidate told the audience, "I had a Top Secret/Security Compartmented Information classification, that is the highest you can have in the United States Army. You don’t get a security classification like that if you have financial issues like that. I still retain a Secret security clearance. And I tell you, if you look at the application for a security clearance, I have a clearance that even the president of the United States cannot obtain because of my background."

PolitiFact Florida looked at several interpretations of West's comment and concluded that it earned the lowest rating, Pants on Fire. Here's the full story.

Shripal Shah, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, offered a one-word reply to West's claim: “Really?”

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Does the President have the highest possible security clearance?

 

[Zebo]

Many presidents can not obtain level security clearance he had. Drug use precludes you. Any marks on credit report. Any time out of country not thoroughly vetted precludes you. Bush would not have qualified either.

 

[Zebo]

Does the President have the highest possible security clearance?

President is the classifying authority, does not mean he would qualify under his own rules.

 

[her209]

Many presidents can not obtain level security clearance he had. Drug use precludes you. Any marks on credit report. Any time out of country not thoroughly vetted precludes you. Bush would not have qualified either.

Maybe through the normal process of applying and obtaining a security clearance.

 

[Zebo]

Maybe through the normal process of applying and obtaining a security clearance.

It's like if you start a company you can say people must take drug tests and light up every day if you chose, you're president/CEO. Sure employees can claim they are cleaner than you and it's true, but so what?

 

[ShawnD1]

Does the President have the highest possible security clearance?

I can see why he would, but at the same time it would make sense if he didn't. It seems like one of those situations where the president should ask to see files, and someone who has that clearance gets them. Giving the prez unrestricted access to all government secrets seems like a major security issue. That's like 1 person knowing all of the secret herbs and spices in KFC.

 

[CallMeJoe]

As the ultimate classifying authority, the President doesn't need the highest clearance; he can just decide that whatever he wants to see has whatever classification he is eligible to see...

 

[woolfe9999]

http://www.politifact.com/florida/s...west-says-he-has-clearance-even-president-un/

 

[her209]

It's like if you start a company you can say people must take drug tests and light up every day if you chose, you're president/CEO. Sure employees can claim they are cleaner than you and it's true, but so what?

The CEO is still an employee of the company (system), yes? The CEO can still fire any employees (setting aside the employment rights) which still makes him the most powerful person in the company.

 

[Darwin333]

The CEO is still an employee of the company (system), yes? The CEO can still fire any employees (setting aside the employment rights) which still makes him the most powerful person in the company.

I think he was talking more on the small business side.

Suppose if YOU started a business and YOU are the president of that business, are you just an "employee"?

 

[Codewiz]

Many presidents can not obtain level security clearance he had. Drug use precludes you. Any marks on credit report. Any time out of country not thoroughly vetted precludes you. Bush would not have qualified either.

You have no fucking clue what you are talking about......

The things you mention only matter if you lie about them or show a pattern of reckless behavior that is a risk to national security.

Getting a TS SCI is not that hard. All you have to do is open your life up and be willing to get investigated. Yeah I know about 60 people personally with a TS SCI. And they all have mixed histories some including drug use and all sorts of other shit.

And SCI means that very few know all the pieces. Information is compartmentalized. You only know what you need to know.

 

[SamurAchzar]

I would assume that being the presidents come and go, while enlisted men remain, presidents (or politicians in general) they do not have complete details about very highly sensitive activities, such as active agents. There's a fine line between armed forces keeping some information to themselves and really going rogue.

 

[LunarRay]

Have you not read Tom Clancy?... Even he knows that by Executive Order the 'Security Classification' was established... 12958 if I recall correctly is the latest (I could be wrong cuz it could be secret...)
It is an Executive function within the Executive Department... Even Congress has to abide by the dictate of the Need to Know and protocol has been established for that as I understand.
The President is king of the Executive, ergo, has no specific need for a clearance... of any kind... he can determine 'willy nilly' if a person(s) should be made aware of some 'secret' to either advise or effect...
Folks in high office are vetted but not usually issued a specific clearance... IF they need to know they will know.

I think this is right... or it use to be..

 

[Vette73]

TS/SCI is the highest but it does not mean you can see/do anything. It just means you can see anything in your area/field.

I have a Top Secret but that does not mean I can walk up to the doors at DoD or the white house and tell them to let me in.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

That's like 1 person knowing all of the secret herbs and spices in KFC.

Racist.

 

[boomerang]

Racist.

 

[Strk]

Bill Pullman didn't know everything

 

[Craig234]

Since some here seem to have more opinion than research, I'll clarify a couple things.

This is not based on the security system directly, but things ranging from nice books like one about declassified 'Presidents' eyes only' documents called "For the President's Eyes Only", James Bamford's books, histories by the people who have worked with Presidents on confidential information and other things.

The President has no formal limits I'm aware of, he has, as he should, 'full clearance'.

Now, there are informal limits to that. The President is normally never given things like sources' names, that are scrubbed out of reports for him, as he has no 'need to know' them. The President cooperates with this. In theory, if he wanted a name, he could demand it, and the staff could either supply it or resign/be fired, but it doesn't happen.

With an exception like Valerie Plame, who got some attention from Cheney's office.

Another informal limit is simply people who hide things. They're not supposed to, they do.

No President was able to tell J. Edgar Hoover 'give me all the dirt you have'. Intelligence contacts with Lee Harvey Oswald were kept quiet for some time, for example.

To this day, there is a lot of evidence suggesting more of a relationship between the government and Oswald that has never been made public, to Presidents either.

Presidents do leak to the press for their own reasons. It not only ingratiates them with the reporters and gets them owed favors, it helps get their message across.

Watch for "A senior administration official" or "A top White House official" type descriptions of a source, they've repeatedly meant the President himself.

Indeed, the President is more able to use leaks for his own reasons while people below him may do so but usually risk the anger of the President or more.

The Daily Briefing released for the day Bush was told 'Al Queda wants to attack' was an example of the level of information in that briefing.

JFK in particular used to regularly call low level people in the government for information because he felt he wasn't getting what he wanted from higher officials.

A Sergeant's phone would ring and he'd be told the President wanted to talk with him.

Finally, Nixon did something bad on this, tried to lie about JFK to the media, saying he'd found documents in a safe implicating JFK in the Bay of Pigs on issues.

Remarkably, the press determined the fraud and it didn't work.