I really doubt this argument is going to work in court.<p>A group of White House staffers turn up at Treasury and demand access to computer systems. A senior Treasury official denies them access. The White House complains to the Treasury Secretary, who orders compliance with the White House’s demands. The senior official still refuses, so the Treasury Secretary fires him, and the remaining officials grant access. The President publicly announces that he approves of the staffers’ actions and he authorised them.<p>Whatever legal argument you can come up with that this is a crime, will a judge and jury buy it? The access was authorised by the President and the Treasury Secretary; your argument is their authorisation was illegal and hence isn’t valid. But unless you can prove Musk and his staffers somehow <i>knew</i> that it was legally invalid, where is the <i>mens rea</i>?<p>And even if the trial court accepts it, will the conservative SCOTUS majority uphold the conviction of a Republican administration’s officials on the basis of that argument?