Quote:
Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Maybe the NSA is just an advisor, and maybe this means Rice can't bind the President; I don't know the answer to that. I also can't remember the reason we're arguing about this, so I'm at a disadvantage here. However, the President does things by having his policies executed by officers who answer to him. When they execute those policies, the President does not have a Constitutional Power of Takebacks.
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Seems to me that if you're going to draw some reasonably principled line, it ought to be this:
1) The person has to be within the "executive" group, however defined (presumably top-level advisors)
2) The person receiving the advice holds the right to waive the privilege.
The point of the privilege is to ensure that the executive obtains advice free from concerns that it will be made public. The underling providing the advice should not be in a position to waive this interest on behalf of the executive.
So, if Condi Rice is giving advice to the president, he must authorize her to reveal any of the information for which he asserts E.P.
