If you can operate without democratic control and do things that would be illegal for anyone else to do, are you an "illegal conspiracy against democracy"? I th

If you can operate without democratic control and do things that would be illegal for anyone else to do, are you an "illegal conspiracy against democracy"? I think every intelligent US president since Eisenhower (which makes sense, as the relevant institutions largely came into being after WW2) has recognized that such a thing exists, with varying degrees of openness (Eisenhower), paranoia (Nixon), and glee (HW Bush).