Today Hillary Clinton told George Stephanopoulos that she had access to classified information despite not having a security clearance during her tenure as First Lady. This is not my area of expertise, but somehow this admission seemed to suggest either somebody inappropriately shared classified information with the then First Lady or somebody today may have tortured the truth.
The video is available at This Week. The segment in question is entitled, "No Formal, Official Role for..." The particular statement occurs at -11:20.
The transcripts were not available as of this writing, but the following is very close to what was said compromised only by my mediocre dictation skills:
George Stephanopoulos: How about in the White House? The New York Times wrote this week that you did not attend National Security Council meetings, you did not receive the President’s Daily Brief and you didn’t have a security clearance.
Hillary Clinton: Well, I just disagree with that. I can imagine what the stories might have been had I attended a National Security Council meeting. You were there. I think you can vouch for that. But, I had direct access to all of the decision makers. I was briefed on a range of issues and often provided with classified information.
I cannot seem to find anything on the nets to support the appropriateness of disclosing classified information to a First Lady. To the contrary, what I have found suggests that a formal security clearance is a requirement of handling or having access to classified data. Further, one also has to have the "need to know."
..merely having a certain level of Security Clearance does not mean one is authorized to view classified information. To have access to classified information, one must possess the necessary two elements: A level of Security Clearance, at least equal to the classification of the information, AND, an appropriate "need to know" the information in order to perform their duties. Just because I have a SECRET Clearance, would not give me access to ALL Secret Information in the military. I would need to have a specific reason to know that information, before I could be granted access.
I would greatly appreciate input and observations.