Posted on 07/19/2004 5:07:42 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos
3 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By JOHN SOLOMON
WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a criminal investigation after admitting he removed highly classified terrorism documents from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings, The Associated Press has learned.
Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (news - web sites) agents armed with warrants. Some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing.
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had taken from classified anti-terror documents he reviewed at the National Archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement to the AP.
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 (news - web sites). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.
The FBI searched Berger's home and office with warrants earlier this year after employees of the National Archives told agents they believed they witnessed Berger put documents into his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers, officials said.
When asked, Berger said he returned some of the classified documents, which he found in his office, and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but said he could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
A good Freeper NEVER loses a good bookmark. :-)
LOL!
Thanks for the good laugh!
LOL. Maybe so. Personally, if I planned to forge a deed I'd choose somewhere like Fiji or Hawaii, or Italy.
Vincent Price reminds me a little of Kerry....
In other developments:
Meyer Lansky was reviewing the documents at Mr Bugsy Siegel's request to be turned over to the commission investigating the Mob!
Associated Press
CBC News (Canadian Broadcasting)
CBS 4, Denver
CBS News
Fox News
KBCI, Boise
KHNL, Honolulu
Local6, Central Florida
Pioneer Press, Twin Cities
Reuters
Tacoma News Tribune
The Denver Channel
USA Today
From a news perspective, the essential facts at this point should be the following:
1. Berger is a former Clinton National Security Advisor.
2. He is now an advisor to the Democratic presidential ticket (perhaps with hopes of becoming Sec. of State).
3. The documents in question pertain to the hottest issue of our time, terrorism. More to the point, the documents were critical of the Clinton administration's handling of terrorism.
Key questions: Was Berger reviewing the documents for the Kerry campaign? Was it permissible for him to make notes? If he had a briefcase, why did he stuff the notes in his clothing? Which original documents did he take? Why did he put those in his case, but the notes in his clothes? What material did he take notes about? Is there videotape of Berger removing these materials? If not, how did the archivists know some documents were missing and how did they trace the documents to Berger?
Berger was obviously caught red-handed in some way. So his legal strategy at the moment seems to be "the best defense is a good offense." Admit to doing it, but say it was all "inadvertent." The key to the investigation will be to prove intent to steal the classified documents. If there was such intent, then the question becomes to what purpose?
Lacking further information, I don't think the purpose would have been to protect Clinton. Why? The information was already in the hands of investigators for the 9/11 commission. Whatever harm there might have been to Clinton was already done. If it was intentional, and it sure seems so from the first information we have, it's possible Berger wanted to give the Kerry campaign or possibly someone in the media the documents for some reason.
BINGO .. he sure did know
And these documents were stolen in Oct of 2003
Well we know who sent him in to get these don't we? How stupid do they take us to be? Of course he didn't accidentally take them, nor did he "discard" them by mistake either.
When is the public going to realize what criminal thugs the Clinton regime was and still is? NEVER, as the media will continue to cover for them.
Can you imagine the reaction if a republican did this? They would be calling for the heads of all of us!
This just keeps getting better and better....
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Samuel "Sandy" Berger, national security adviser under former President Bill Clinton, is under investigation after removing classified documents from the National Archives while he prepared to appear before the Sept. 11 commission, a U.S. official said Monday.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the investigation was pending and could provide no other information. Another official confirmed an investigation was taking place.
Berger said he inadvertently took a few documents and his notes on the material reviewed but immediately returned them when he was told by the Archives that the documents were missing.
"I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally discarded," Berger said in a statement.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved but had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge every document requested by the commission from the Clinton Administration was produced," Berger said.
A Justice Department official refused to comment.
Well, I'm glad there are a bunch of good FReepers in FReeperland! :)
I have never smoked in my life, but if this story has the legs I think it does. I'm gonna smoke a Cigar when I see Slick Willy in an orange jumpsuit
"Sandy's not known for lying, so I guess we'll just have to trust him here."
LOL!! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.
Clinton and Berger like to talk about how they stopped the Millennium attacks, but rather than celebrating it as an accomplishment, they should have taken out the Taliban and AQ immediately. An unsuccessful attack is still an attack. Besides, it was an alert customs agent in Washington who discovered the plot even though the alert level was low. The Clinton administration was a disaster. 9/11 was their legacy with still more to come.
I like to think of Qerry's entire campaign as a crapstorm.
That tells me he was attempting to get all the copies of a particular report (or draft version) - and perhaps replace it later with a fake?
The guy who had FBI docs and house was supposedly robbed was Gerald Nicosia, I believe.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1147353/posts
Prairie
Off topic and as requested, UN oil for food scandal linked to terrorism:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1174012/posts
Do not forget that Berger was and is, a Clinton insider. He knows where all the bodies are buried, and will have his insurance policy in the safe of his lawyer. This is really going to get interesting, to say the least. The MSM is also in a corner. We know they will play defense for the dims, but they do so with much peril, for their already lacking credibility. The pubs should just stand back and watch the train wreck.
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