Re: US Navy could be crippled by software backdoors.

Vince wrote:
> Fred J. McCall wrote:
>> Mxsmanic <mxsmanic@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> :Fred J. McCall writes:
>> :
>> :> You might want to look at some classified documents and read the
>> :> statement regarding under what authority they are classified.
>> :
>> :With a few exceptions, all classified material in the U.S. is
>> :classified under direct or indirect authority of the President. Thus,
>> :the President can authorize its disclosure. (A notable exception is
>> :certain information on atomic weapons, which is classified under
>> :Congressional authority; I don't know if the President has authority
>> :to allow disclosure of this material or not.) Military classification
>> :proceeds directly from an Executive Order of the President, which is
>> :periodically updated.
>>
>> Precisely the point. Hence the President, by definition, cannot
>> 'leak' non-nuclear weapons related classified information.
>>
>
> Actually he can. He can declassify it and then "leak" it. But, to use
> an analogy, the presidents pardon power does not give him the authority
> to order the release of a convicted criminal without exercising it
>
> This was actually a major issue in a variety of warrant cases involving
> the attorney general
>
>
> Vince

US Presidents cannot pardon themselves - so they have to obey the rules.

Showing a document to a journalist and declassifying it are two
different operations. By permitting the journalist to *see* the
document the President has simply used his powers to grant security
clearances and to add people to access lists. The document is still
classified and its ban on copying and publication still exists.

The President could probably be impeached for conspiracy to espionage or
mishandling documents.

Andrew Swallow
Received on Mon May 1 01:57:52 2006