Free Republic

Lee Hamilton (co-chair) of the 911 Commission is on the Board of Directors of Sandy Berger's company - Stonebridge International. I saw another freeper post this and thought it warranted its own vanity thread.

A federal judge yesterday ordered former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger to pay a $50,000 fine and give up his security clearance for three years as the penalty for smuggling classified terrorism documents out of the National Archives in 2003. The sentence was much more severe than the $10,000 fine that Justice Department prosecutors and Berger's attorneys had jointly proposed after Berger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. But Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson said the punishment, which also included two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, would more "sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Sept. 11 commission knew military intelligence officials had identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta as a member of al-Qaida who might be part of U.S.-based terror cell more than a year before the terror attacks but decided not to include that in its final report, a spokesman acknowledged Thursday. Al Felzenberg, who had been the commission's chief spokesman, said Tuesday the panel was unaware of intelligence specifically naming Atta. But he said subsequent information provided Wednesday confirmed that the commission had been aware of the intelligence. It did not make it into the final report because the...

Samuel R."Sandy" Berger, a former White House national security adviser, plans to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, and will acknowledge intentionally removing and destroying copies of a classified document about the Clinton administration's record on terrorism. Berger's plea agreement, which was described yesterday by his advisers and was confirmed by Justice Department officials, will have one of former president Bill Clinton's most influential advisers and one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign policy advisers in a federal court this afternoon. The deal's terms make clear that Berger spoke falsely last summer in public claims that in 2003 he twice inadvertently...

Former Clinton White House Mr. Fix-It Bruce Lindsey emerged tight-lipped yesterday after testifying before a federal grand jury probing whether top-secret documents were illegally removed from the National Archives. The grand jury probe, reported exclusively in The Post Tuesday, is digging into why another former Bill Clinton aide, Sandy Berger, sneaked the national security documents out of the Archives — possibly in his socks. Lindsey denied any inside knowledge about Berger's sticky fingers. "All I know is what he [Berger] said. He made a public statement," said Lindsey, Clinton's deputy White House counsel, after testifying under oath yesterday. Berger admits...

Dear Insight: My formerly unnamed source, wishing now to be identified simply as "Slacks," claims to have taken the following letter from the garters of former National Security Advisor, Mr. Sandy Berger.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 - A top House Democrat called on Attorney General John Ashcroft on Friday to explain why the Justice Department was letting federal officials cooperate in a Congressional inquiry into the case of Samuel R. Berger despite a current criminal investigation. The representative, Henry A. Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, said the department position regarding Mr. Berger, a national security adviser to President Bill Clinton accused of mishandling classified documents, was at odds with how inquiries tied to the Bush administration had been handled. "For example, in the investigation into the leak...

The criminal probe into how and why former Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger illegally sneaked classified documents out of the National Archives is going forward despite a report that no originals are missing, officials say. "The investigation continues. It's irrelevant whether or not there are originals missing. What matters is that removing classified documents without authorization is illegal," a government official said. The Wall Street Journal on Friday quoted National Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper as saying her agency is "confident" that no originals are lost — but she couldn't be reached and other officials declined to confirm that claim....

3 Critical PointsThere are several points here. In addition to destroying documents, Sandy Berger was acting as an agent of the executive branch for the 9/11 Commission and was screening the information that was to be provided to them. The Bush Administration did not choose Berger to do this. The 9/11 Commission did. Then the Commission saw only what Berger wanted them to see via hiding behind the Executive Privilege implied by constitutional separation of powers. This makes the 9/11 Commission report worthless. The Commission did not see what Berger, Gorleck and Ben Veniste did not wish them to see,...

In the latest twist to the document scandal, investigators said the revelation about translators was among several criticisms of America’s ability to deal with the looming al Qaeda threat contained in the “after action” memo on the millennium terror plot that is at the center of the Berger probe. Officials said an appeal to hire more translators familiar with Arabic, Pashto and other key “counter-terrorism” languages at the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency was among 29 proposals to tighten security contained in the report. The report written by former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke also warned of the...

The news media’s treatment of Sandy Berger’s removal of highly classified documents from the National Archives remarkably focuses on the timing of the leak, casting aspersions on the White House. It’s not the first time Democrats have shown that manipulating their friends in the press is as easy as beating chimps at chess. Here's what the remarkably incurious press, which has left its thinking caps at the Bien Pensant Bar and Grill, overlooks: The leak was to the very same reporter Clinton spin doctor Lanny Davis used during the Clinton Administration. Who was Davis? None other than the public relations...

THE INNOCENT explanation is the most likely one, particularly given the facts involved," Bill Clinton said in defense of former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Who, you've probably heard, is in some hot water for getting caught illicitly smuggling very classified documents on more than one occasion from the National Archives. Now, I don't know for sure what to make of Berger's misdeeds, but it's clear that his best defense against criminality is an offense to prove how sloppy and careless he was. He says that in the process of illegally sneaking the notes he made while reviewing classified...

COVER STORY: Turns out the surprise revelations that ex-Kerry foreign-policy adviser Sandy Berger mishandled classified documents should come as no surprise: He’s done it before, according to Congressman Curt Weldon in this WORLD exclusive. At 500-plus pages, a reasonable assumption might be that the final report of the 9/11 commission would include plenty of information for even the most voracious reader. But on July 22, as official Washington began poring over the long-anticipated report, the most pressing questions centered on the few pages that might have been left out - after disappearing down the pants of a top Clinton aide....

Turns out the surprise revelations that ex-Kerry foreign-policy adviser Sandy Berger mishandled classified documents should come as no surprise: He's done it before, according to a lawmaker who shared classified information with then-National Security Adviser Berger. In this WORLD exclusive, Congressman Curt Weldon says, "This is the second time now that we have a documented case of Berger mishandling classified information" | by Bob Jones -- At 500-plus pages, a reasonable assumption might be that the final report of the 9/11 commission would include plenty of information for even the most voracious reader. But on July 22, as official Washington...

He was known to worry about details — but behind that diligence, Sandy Berger was a man who could lose track of papers and appointments without subordinates' help. So while many jaws dropped in Washington when he owned up to sneaking secret documents from the National Archives, some who worked with former White House National Security Adviser Sandy Berger were not surprised. "For all those who know and love him, it's easy to see how this could happen," a former Clinton administration colleague told The Washington Post. When he worked for Clinton, Berger never set foot outside the White House...

--SNIP-- Here we have yet another Clintonite involved in unlawful behavior, more "misplaced" documents and a lame attempt to blame it all on an innocent bureaucratic snafu ("Bubba's Boy Berger," Editorial, July 22). And yet, other than from conservatives, there's been little outrage. Can anybody imagine Condi Rice stuffing critical, sensitive and potentially damning security documents into her bra, taking them home and then destroying them? It's hard to imagine. But if anything similar had been perpetrated by a Bush administration official, we all know the Democrats would be foaming at the mouth, screaming for hearings and demanding the impeachment...

Former Clinton adviser shaped policy some believe led to Intifada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, who this week admitted to taking classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, also was found in possession of a small number of classified papers containing his handwritten notes from Middle East peace talks during the Clinton administration, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Although the Mideast notes are not the main focus of the current criminal probe, the source says their removal may shed further light on Berger's intentions. The Mideast notes were allegedly taken from the National Archives...

Looks like they are closing up at Joe Wilson's little shop of horrors. And the Keery wen search function returns nothing when Joe Wilson's name is entered.

Former Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger under investigation for removing Clinton-era anti-terror documents from National Archives. – Ripped from the headlines Rules for Visitors Welcome to the reading and research rooms of the National Archives. The National Archives is the repository for many of the most important documents in our history. This secure reading room is provided for former government officials, scholars and others engaged in serious research activities and possessing the necessary clearances to view classified archival materials. To ensure the safety of our collections and to provide a comfortable work environment for our visitors, the National Archives...

Shortly after news broke that former Clinton administration National Security Advisor Samuel "Sandy" Berger was being investigated by the Justice Department for illegally removing highly classified documents from the National Archives, the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) removed its anti-terror plan from its web site. Republicans have suggested that the information contained in the documents was used to formulate Kerry's policy, but are limited in proving those charges because the material is still classified. The sudden disappearance of the policy from the campaign web site that coincided with Berger's dismissal supports Republicans' contention that the purloined data formed...