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SirPokeSmottington 2 points ago +2 / -0

POTUS has the highest possible clearance of any human being in the country.

Not even close bro. That's not how clearance works. There's at least 2 levels (that I know of) above the POTUS.

My dad denied Ike passage (fore to aft) on a flight because he was in the middle of a decrypt that Ike didn't have clearance for.

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pmurTJdlanoD 1 point ago +1 / -0

Alright, guess it's worth clarifying.

The President is not automatically privy to or briefed on everything happening in high security clearance areas. In fact, as a private citizen the candidate would oftentimes not qualify for clearance at all. However:

As commander-in-chief, all military secrets and secret-keepers serve at the whim of the president. If a president so chooses, he or she can more or less learn everything there is to know about anything there is to know.

Even logically, who would be a keeper of a secret that the President wouldn't be allowed to see if he wanted to? That doesn't really make much sense.

I've not found anything that says otherwise, but would be happy to learn more if you source something.

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SirPokeSmottington 1 point ago +1 / -0

I've not found anything that says otherwise, but would be happy to learn more if you source something.

I did. My dad was a cryptographer and has denied a sitting president from access to his communications.