Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottKuma
Sorry, I find this half-baked. Senators are regularly briefed on security matters - perhaps not at the level of the President, but surely enough to make a RESPONSIBLE decision in this regard.
Otherwise, all Bush would have to say is, "You haven't seen the shiat I've seen, Mr. Obama."
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Senators as a whole do not receive classified intel briefings....only those on the Intel Committee (Obama was not a committee members). Other committees, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services receive less, and most Senators receive only highly redacted intel.
Candidates receive no briefings until after they secure the nomination....and then, still far less than the president, particularly regarding the most timely and sensitive intel in the Presidential Daily Briefs (PBDs).
The most bizarre fact is that past presidents have access to the PDBs yet the two major candidates, one of whom would be the next president, do not.
Bush pretty much told all of Congress, " "You haven't seen the shiat I've seen..." by refusing to share the PDBs or the full unredacted NIEs (claiming executive privilege for both - Karl Rove could see them, but not Congress) before asking them to vote on two separate AUMFs.
added: I dont know if Obama has been willing to share these intel docs on not..I suspect re: the PDBs, probably not.