Maybe one of our constitutional/governmental scholars could explain this.

I was watching a documentary on the History Channel about the UFO Files maintained by the U.S. government. Kind of interesting stuff. The show delved into the various presidencies of the last half of the 20th century.

Apparently Jimmy Carter is a believer (of UFOs) and he requested the "file" from the CIA. The then director, George HW Bush, refused him the file, saying that access to it was on a need-to-know basis and that the curiosity of the president didn't fit that need.

Why couldn't Carter just say, "Fuck you, George, give me the damned file"?? How could an underling tell the top executive officer of the government that he is not allowed to see some government file?

Any ideas?