It's probably a bit of both. There are a huge number of wacky hyper-specialized military units in case you need to erect a portable missile launcher in Antarctica or need someone who is specialized in assassinating whales using kung fu or something. And using utterly transparent bullshit like "Well technically the president said this even if no one knew what he meant so that means this law technically doesn't apply so when this all comes out ten years, millions of deaths, and trillions of dollars later we're going to technically walk out of the court house and in to cushy consulting jobs."

When Reagan did it the line was "What did he know and when did he know it" and the response was "I do not remember at this time" and there were basically no consequences for Iran Contra, where the president literally did literal treason literally.

There were also shades of it during the Clinton "I fucked my intern" scandal where the line "it depends on what your definition of "is" is" was uttered.

It's all bullshit. The law is whatever they need it to be at the moment and people only get in trouble if they piss off too many of the wrong people or they're selected as the disposable cut-out.

Like the president of the US launched a covert first-strike AGAINST NATO without congressional knowledge or approval and no one cares and nothing is going to come of it.