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| Clinton Adviser Probed Over Terror Memos |
| 2004-07-20 |
| By John Solomon, Associated Press. EFL. Sandy Berger, former President Clinton's national security adviser, is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department after highly classified terrorism documents disappeared while he was reviewing what should be turned over to the Sept. 11 commission. Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI agents armed with warrants after the former Clinton adviser voluntarily returned some sensitive documents to the National Archives and admitted he also removed handwritten notes he had made while reviewing the sensitive documents. . . . Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket and pants, and also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio. . . . Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of the president's second term and most recently has been informally advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees told agents they believed they witnessed Berger place documents in his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers and that some documents were then noticed missing, officials said. When asked, Berger said he returned some classified documents that he found in his office and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report. "In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with requests by the Sept. 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the Archives," Berger said. "I have this real bad habit of stuffing things in my trousers without thinking." "When I was informed by the Archives that "Quick! Cover his you-know-what." Appearing on NBC's "Today" show, Gergen said, "I have known Sandy Berger for a long time. He would never do anything to compromise the security of And now, for the counterstroke: Gergen said he thought that "it is suspicious" that word of the investigation of Berger would emerge just as the Sept. 11 commission is about to release its report, since "this investigation started months ago." . . . "It's a vast right-wing conspiracy, I tells ya!" A bunch of comments on this one: 1. It's possible, when reviewing a pile of papers, to be bone-headed and put something in the wrong file jacket, or gather up something inadvertently when loading your briefcase. Stuffing things in your trousers is, however, not a bone-headed mistake. 2. This is the same Sandy Berger who told Clinton not to accept Sudan's offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to us back in 1996. The Vodkapundit reflects on this: What bothers me — and what should bother you — is that the man who was too concerned with the law to get Osama when he had the chance, was rather cavalier about the law when it came to shoving classified items down his 46-inch waistband. Sandy Berger covered his ass, quite literally, with the papers which, just might, show how he inadvertently helped Osama bin Laden murder the asses of 3,000 of Berger's fellow Americans. 3. If Condi Rice or Donald Rumsfeld had bone-headedly mishandled classified 9/11 commission documents, would the mainstream press perhaps be a little harsher on them than it is (so far) being on Sandy Berger? |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #20 I have handled classified documents as a military officer and civilian over the years. I know of a Navy Reserve Officer who was taking a course a few years ago. He took classified documents to his hotel room to study for a test. He was caught bringing the documents back in (in a briefcase). He was subsequently courtmarshalled, sent to Leavenworth for 1 year, and given a bad conduct discharge. It ruined his life. Berger should spend a least 10 years in Federal Prison becasue of crimnal intent. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2004-07-20 2:49:30 PM |
| #19 I can only imagine now how Sandy is going to be probed...by an FBI proctologist. |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-07-20 1:50:37 PM |
| #18 Remember the scene in Citizen Kane where the reporter is trying to dig up stuff on Kane's past that would reveal what Rosebud was all about? The smoke, the lights, the shadows. Why, Berger was just trying to be artistique, mes amis! |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-07-20 1:48:04 PM |
| #17 he hid classified info in his friggin socks! How could taht be inadvertant??? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-20 1:26:25 PM |
| #16 In case inadvertence is still an issue, Fox is now reporting: "Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket, pants and socks, and also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio." Now, unless socks is a Clinton administration euphemism for a condom, it is pretty hard to see how papers could have gotten in them inadvertently. Oh, but only the leather portfolio was inadvertent. Now everything makes complete sense. What was in the Archives that was worth risking this? The angle has to be domestic and must relate to wrong doing by some American official. Anything else could have been spun. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-07-20 1:25:59 PM |
#15 UPDATE (2d): Moonbat World HQ is in a tizzy over this one:I imagine that this morning Karl Rove and Karen Hughes arerubbing themselves raw over one line that appears in the story: |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-20 1:10:19 PM |
| #14 Lucky... Tube or Flank? |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-07-20 12:33:53 PM |
| #13 "Sandy Burglur": Rush Stuffing steaks down ones pants is an ol' junkies trick. The celophaned wraped steaks slip easily under the waist and are wide enough to not slip down. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-20 12:29:12 PM |
| #12 Found it... nevermind. It was burried under all the more important stuff like the hostage release and the Bush/Cheney Campain approaching $230 Mil. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5870 2004-07-20 12:25:17 PM |
| #11 I cant find this story anywhere in MSNBC. ABC and CNN both are reporting this but MSNBC must not have gotten the memo. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5870 2004-07-20 12:07:23 PM |
| #10 Should also be obvious -- notes taken would also be classified if any classified info was contained in them. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-07-20 11:47:43 AM |
| #9 He sure seemed to be leaving the scene in an awfully gosh-darned big hurry to make such a mistake. Couple that with the fact that he knew fully well what the security protocol ought to have been. Someone must have been having a pret-ty hard day to screw up something that had been previously drilled into his head by the DOD. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-07-20 11:41:50 AM |
| #8 I worked in a classified environment for 20 years and find it damn difficult to swallow this story. Sonetimes whe we left a secure building we would encounter random searhces of our carried items (lunchbox, briefcase, purse, etc) and go help you if you accidently put something classified in them. FYI Senior officials are RARELY checked for 'loose' documents. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-07-20 11:19:47 AM |
| #7 from thatliberalmedia.com: Perhaps this explanation will fly for those who have never worked around classified documents, but since I spent three years producing such material, I can tell you that it's impossible to "inadvertently" take or destroy them. For one thing, such documents are required to have covers -- bright covers in primary colors that indicate their level of classification. Each sheet of paper is required to have the classification level of the page (each page may be classified differently) at the top and bottom of each side of the paper. Documents with higher classifications are numbered, and each copy is tracked with an access log, and nowadays I suppose they're tracking them by computers. Under these rules, it's difficult to see how anyone could "inadvertently" mix up handwritten notes with classified documents, especially when sticking them into one's jacket and pants. Furthermore, as Clinton's NSA, Berger would have been one of the people responsible for enforcing these regimens, not simply subject to them. The DOD makes these rules crystal clear during the clearance process at each level of access, and security officers (which Berger clearly was) undergo even further training and assessment on security procedures. "Inadvertent" and "sloppiness", in the real context of secured documentation, not only don't qualify as an excuse but don't even register as a possibility. -- Go to the site for more. |
| Posted by: growler 2004-07-20 10:06:25 AM |
| #6 He's trying to spin it by saying he only stuffed his own notes down his pants and into his jacket, and supposedly "took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio." That begs the question: Why didn't he put his notes into the portfolio too? And wouldn't his portfolio be checked upon leaving? |
| Posted by: growler 2004-07-20 10:03:45 AM |
| #5 not a front page story in the WashPost, pg A17 bottom of the page in the NYTimes. As someone else (Captain Ed or Hugh?) noted: can you imagine how this would play if Condi Rice or Cheney were caught lifting classified documents? Front Page Special Edition! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-20 10:01:16 AM |
#4 UPDATE: "Captain Ed" Morissey writes:Perhaps this explanation will fly for those who have never worked around classified documents, but since I spent three years producing such material, I can tell you that it's impossible to "inadvertently" take or destroy them. For one thing, such documents are required to have covers -- bright covers in primary colors that indicate their level of classification. Each sheet of paper is required to have the classification level of the page (each page may be classified differently) at the top and bottom of each side of the paper. Documents with higher classifications are numbered, and each copy is tracked with an access log, and nowadays I suppose they're tracking them by computers. Quite a few of the regular Rantburgers (Fred, of course, and Old Spook, are the two that come immediately to mind) have backgrounds in the intelligence field. I'd be very interested in your take on all this. What say you, brothers (and sisters)? |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-20 9:59:22 AM |
| #3 Clinton-ista's are putting things into their pants! Usually goes the other way. |
| Posted by: Sparks 2004-07-20 9:55:45 AM |
| #2 Just as long as you keep "Probed" in the headline. It fits, considering where some of the documents were residing. |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-07-20 9:44:45 AM |
| #1 The headline should read: Kerry Adviser Probed Over Terror Memos He is afetrall Kerry's FP advisor. Read: "In a conference call with reporters before the speech, Kerry foreign policy advisor Samuel R. 'Sandy' Berger said those remarks were not meant to embrace Bush's doctrine of launching preemptive attacks against states the U.S. views as a threat." |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-07-20 9:06:45 AM |