Should elected officials go through TS clearance checks?

[RogueIce]

First off, I'll state that I have no idea if those Legislators on the security/intelligence/military/etc. committees who would access classified material are required to undergo the same background investigations that servicemembers and civil servants do. For that matter, the President would be included on this as well. Anyone know if they do?

Secondly, if they don't, should that be a requirement? Obviously it could be a bit of a problem if some President had something in his/her background that would disqualify the rest of us from gaining that clearance (I'd imagine it's slightly less so for Congresscrittters...they just can't sit on those committiees. Sucks to be them). But just because they got elected doesn't necessarily make them any more trustworthy to not leak information out than anyone else applying for a position that would deal with sensitive material.

So should we just let 'em go with it, on the theory that it doesn't matter because they're elected? Or should some form of checks be instituted?

[DPDarkPrimus]

With the way campaigns are conducted these days, you'll find out any dirt on a candidate from their opponent's ads.

[Alex Moon]

Obviously, his position makes giving the President a TS clearance moot. He has the power to declassify information if he believes it to be in the best interest of the country, and the possibility of turning classified information over to third parties is remote.

In general, elected officials, especially at the national level, are simply too public to be able to pass along information without someone finding out.

[Civil War Man]

I don't think Senators and Congressmen in committees that handle top-secret information need to get clearance.

From Senate Intelligence Committee Rules and Procedures

No member of the Committee or of the Committee staff shall disclose, in whole or in part or by way of summary, the contents of any classified or committee sensitive papers, materials, briefings, testimony, or other information in the possession of the Committee to any other person, except as specified in this rule. Committee members and staff do not need prior approval to disclose classified or committee sensitive information to persons in the Executive branch, the members and staff the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the members and staff of the Senate, provided that the following conditions are met: (1) for classified information, the recipients of the information must possess appropriate security clearances (or have access to the information by virtue of their office); (2) for all information, the recipients of the information must have a need-to-know such information for an official governmental purpose; and (3) for all information, the Committee members and staff who provide the information must be engaged in the routine performance of Committee legislative or oversight duties. Otherwise, classified and committee sensitive information may only be disclosed to persons outside the Committee (to include any congressional committee, Member of Congress, congressional staff, or specified non-governmental persons who support intelligence activities) with the prior approval of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee, or the Staff Director and Minority Staff Director acting on their behalf, consistent with the requirements that classified information may only be disclosed to persons with appropriate security clearances and a need-to-know such information for an official governmental purpose. Public disclosure of classified information in the possession of the Committee may only be authorized in accordance with Section 8 of S. Res. 400 of the 94th Congress.

Members of intelligence committees would probably be considered to have the proper clearance by virtue of their office. All of their staff members would have to get the necessary clearance.

[Solauren]

The only way you could implement this would be to make the checks a mandatory part of the process of registration to run for office.

I personally like that idea.


Hell, for added security, once elected, I'm in favor of mandatory monitoring of there phone, email, bank accounts, et al.

Same with there aids.

Would make it extremely hard to be corrupt, and keep them honest.

[Sriad]

With the way campaigns are conducted these days, you'll find out any dirt on a candidate from their opponent's ads.

You have naively assumed that political attack ads are necessarily true.

[DPDarkPrimus]

With the way campaigns are conducted these days, you'll find out any dirt on a candidate from their opponent's ads.

You have naively assumed that political attack ads are necessarily true.

Your sarcasm detector is broken.