# Will Pres Hillary be able to discuss classified matters with Bill ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 11, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422 "2016-08-11T06:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![laszlozoltan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laszlozoltan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laszlozoltan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/1 "2016-08-11T06:36:13Z")
Curious- will President Hillary Clinton be able to discuss classified matters with her husband President William Clinton ? I am assuming that he was not allowed to discuss certain matters with her in his time as acting President, but now that both will be fully vetted and sworn - his counsel could be invaluable in their unique situation ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/2 "2016-08-11T14:14:41Z")
His time as “acting President”? “Fully vetted and sworn”? What are you talking about? Presidents are sworn for their terms in office, nothing more. Neither the president nor his/her spouse is vetted, unless you count opposition research, and neither holds a security clearance. The president has a right to receive classified information in his role as chief executive, and to decide with whom to share such information - although this appears to be limited to verbal sharing. Clinton absolutely discussed classified information with his wife, though there are probably things he chose not to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/3 "2016-08-11T14:32:20Z")
We never know what a President may discuss with their spouse in private. Is there any reason Bill couldn’t get clearance? It usually takes time but I assume it can be done rapidly for someone the president designates as an adviser. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/4 "2016-08-11T14:45:37Z")
It doesn’t matter if she’s allowed to or not, she’d do it anyway. And when caught, smirk on the podium and lie about it. ---
**Author:** ![laszlozoltan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laszlozoltan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laszlozoltan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/5 "2016-08-11T14:53:38Z")
:smack: whoops ! - seems like this is the wrong place to have asked thanks anyways bye ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/6 "2016-08-11T15:05:54Z")
> [@laszlozoltan](#): > > in his time as acting President, WTF? Acting president? > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > It doesn’t matter if she’s allowed to or not, she’d do it anyway. And when caught, smirk on the podium and lie about it. Looks like you aced Insults 101 at Trump U. I’m sure each president has wrestled with the ethics of what to tell and not tell his wife. We’ll never know if any discussed classified matter nor could the wife be forced to testify against him if he was tried for such a thing. This is very low on the list of things to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/7 "2016-08-11T15:08:01Z")
To repeat–as President Hillary will have personal discretion on whom to share classified information with. Part of this is a reflection of the law and part of this is a necessity of the concept as President as the “unitary executive”, basically the President’s opinion on whether classified information can be shared with someone trumps any other regulation on the matter. Congress could pass a law prohibiting the President from doing this (and my guess is it’d be like the War Powers Act, in that the President would refuse to acknowledge it), but that hasn’t happened. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/8 "2016-08-11T15:16:07Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > To repeat–as President Hillary will have personal discretion on whom to share classified information with. Part of this is a reflection of the law and part of this is a necessity of the concept as President as the “unitary executive”, basically the President’s opinion on whether classified information can be shared with someone trumps any other regulation on the matter. > > Congress could pass a law prohibiting the President from doing this (and my guess is it’d be like the War Powers Act, in that the President would refuse to acknowledge it), but that hasn’t happened. It seems like only congress would be able to prosecute a president through impeachment for something like this. Separation of powers has been challenged a lot but it’s still accepted that the president needs confidential advisers. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/9 "2016-08-11T16:41:45Z")
I’m pretty sure that members of Congress (particularly those sitting on certain committees) are from time to time given access to confidential information. Is there any way to know that he or she has not shared this info with spouse? OK, my memory is really shitty. Who was the General who got in trouble for sharing top secret information with his mistress? I bring this up only because it shows that yes, people share information they shouldn’t with others they are close to. In a more general sense, I thought that part of the reason for “spousal privilege” was the supposition that one might share information with a spouse that would not be shared with anyone else. Does this have any impact on the legality of sharing any top secret information? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/10 "2016-08-11T17:14:34Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > I’m pretty sure that members of Congress (particularly those sitting on certain committees) are from time to time given access to confidential information. Is there any way to know that he or she has not shared this info with spouse? > > OK, my memory is really shitty. Who was the General who got in trouble for sharing top secret information with his mistress? I bring this up only because it shows that yes, people share information they shouldn’t with others they are close to. > > In a more general sense, I thought that part of the reason for “spousal privilege” was the supposition that one might share information with a spouse that would not be shared with anyone else. Does this have any impact on the legality of sharing any top secret information? Patraeus ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/11 "2016-08-11T17:16:00Z")
She’ll probably just send him an e-mail. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/12 "2016-08-11T17:21:41Z")
This is one of those questions that basically has very little to do with the law and much more about perceptions. For a First Spouse to take on a role that’s any more substantive than being a spokesperson for a cause is generally very controversial. See, for example, Hillary Clinton’s role in health care reform in 1993-1994 timeframe. A First Spouse is NOT an adviser to the President, even if s/he may talk to the person who is President, possibly about substantive issues. Issuing a security clearance to a First Spouse simply on the basis of the person being the First Spouse would probably cause a shitstorm that is not worth it. And if it were ever to leak that the President is giving classified information to an uncleared spouse, the shitstorm would be twice as big. Nobody will likely ever know for sure what a married couple talks about privately in the residence of the White House, but it is hard to see that any President would involve a spouse in decision-making at this level in any substantive capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/13 "2016-08-11T17:23:26Z")
> [@](#): > > OK, my memory is really shitty. Who was the General who got in trouble for sharing top secret information with his mistress? I bring this up only because it shows that yes, people share information they shouldn’t with others they are close to. > > In a more general sense, I thought that part of the reason for “spousal privilege” was the supposition that one might share information with a spouse that would not be shared with anyone else. Does this have any impact on the legality of sharing any top secret information? Plpease, keep in mind that David Petraeus has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information as a result of giving classified information to Paula Broadwell. Not exactly a convincing case of the fiction of spousal privilege as it pertains to classified information. There is no such privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/14 "2016-08-11T17:26:50Z")
> [@laszlozoltan](#): > > :smack: > whoops ! - seems like this is the wrong place to have asked Not necessarily, though you might have done better in the General Questions forum, where responses like **FoieGrasIsEvil** ’s would be a no-no. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > WTF? Acting president? I’m pretty sure the OP just meant “during Bill’s time as President” or “during his term in office.” We still refer to former presidents as President So-and-so even though they’re no longer in office (acting as POTUS). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/15 "2016-08-11T17:29:57Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Issuing a security clearance to a First Spouse simply on the basis of the person being the First Spouse would probably cause a shitstorm that is not worth it. And if it were ever to leak that the President is giving classified information to an uncleared spouse, the shitstorm would be twice as big. > > Nobody will likely ever know for sure what a married couple talks about privately in the residence of the White House, but it is hard to see that any President would involve a spouse in decision-making at this level in any substantive capacity. But in this case the Spouse would also be a former president, which makes this a special case (mostly—it would be a little like George W. talking matters over with his dad), which seems to be why the OP asked the question. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/16 "2016-08-11T18:26:36Z")
Spousal privilege usually refers to the legal doctrine that prohibits someone from being forced to testify against their spouse in criminal trials. There isn’t a general exception to classification laws for spousal sharing. For Congressmen or executive branch officials. Now, “how would we know”, we probably wouldn’t, unless an investigation turned it up somehow (like it did with Petraeus’s sharing with his mistress.) But the President is actually different–he’s literally allowed to share classified information with anyone he wants. So he could’ve done what Petraeus did, and it’s not technically illegal. The President actually holds (and some SCOTUS decisions have agreed to varying degrees), that his authority to classify information (and also to declassify it/share it) is an extension of his responsibility as commander-in-chief to oversee national security. This means he’s materially different from executive branch officers who are directed by Federal statute to follow certain classification policies. Now, if the President actually shared classified information with a mistress, it would be _gravely politically damaging_, potentially to the point of prompting impeachment, but it wouldn’t necessarily be against the law. As for President Clinton, Hillary has indicated that she plans to give Bill at least some quasi-official role, pertaining to certain policy areas like the economy. If she ended up giving him an actual job as some sort of unpaid Presidential adviser, within the executive office of the President, the optics of making him aware of/involved in classified information wouldn’t really be bad. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/17 "2016-08-11T18:50:24Z")
I suspect that Bill Clinton’s security clearance is still valid but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/18 "2016-08-11T19:04:04Z")
He was disbarred for a while - would that affect his clearance? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/19 "2016-08-11T19:13:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But in this case the Spouse would also be a former president, which makes this a special case (mostly—it would be a little like George W. talking matters over with his dad), which seems to be why the OP asked the question. > [@drewder](#): > > I suspect that Bill Clinton’s security clearance is still valid but I could be wrong. Presidents do not hold security clearances. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422/20 "2016-08-12T00:24:36Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Presidents do not hold security clearances. What about former presidents? Don’t they get come kind of regular national security briefings as a courtesy? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-pres-hillary-be-able-to-discuss-classified-matters-with-bill/762422.md?page=2)