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| Home Front: Politix |
| Report should be cure for nostalgia for Clinton crew |
| 2006-12-27 |
| Although Democrats enjoy impugning the integrity of the current president and his administration, the ethical lows achieved by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, and his motley crew of senior advisers still cast the current administration, for all its foibles, in a favorable light. And just in case the soft mists of fading memories have lulled some Americans into bouts of misplaced nostalgia for the Clinton gang, along comes former national security adviser Sandy Berger to remind us of how “ethically challenged” they were. Berger a year ago pleaded guilty to the theft of classified documents from the National Archives, receiving a slap on the wrist for acts that would have a landed a non-Washington insider in the slammer. But a new report from the archive’s inspector general provides the most detailed account yet of what happened. “Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the Sept. 11 commission,” according to the AP. “Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration’s representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.” Whether authorized to do so or not, Berger also seems to have been involved in an attempt to purge documents that reflected poorly on himself or the administration. According to the IG’s report, National Archives personnel saw Berger stuffing something in his socks. Although they at first hesitated “to confront someone of Berger’s stature,” and he initially denied the thefts, he eventually fessed-up under questioning. During a break in his “research,” Berger hid the purloined documents under a construction trailer outside the building; he then retrieved them under cover of darkness. Though the documents were destroyed, archive officials say they believe they know what they were because Berger was being watched, based on earlier suspicions that he was stealing documents. Still shrouded in mystery, since the documents are classified, is exactly what Berger’s theft was meant to cover up, though it’s safe to assume they had something to do with his or Clinton’s mishandling of things in the run-up to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Congressional Democrats are widely expected to use their newfound powers to launch a spate of investigations of the Bush administration in the next two years. But while they are out digging up dirt, why not hold hearings into the last caper — and cover-up — of the Clinton administration? |
| Posted by:.com |