Posted on 07/19/2004 5:07:42 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos
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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 ...
So Bruce Lindsy was aware of secret documents missing from the national Archives too ? TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS !
Exactly.
Berger will lie every time he opens his mouth.
He committed real crimes.
a la Susan McDougal and Webster Hubbell, no?
Who's got the damn copies???? Does Kerry have copies of the documents???Why did Clinton get those copies made?? The only reason these criminals steal things is to bash the President or blackmail someone.
I predict that a maid will find the missing documents in a box on Hillary's dining room table
Just heard on a talk show.
Suggested name should be "Depends Gate" stopping the leaks...
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.
WOW.
We should be thankful that he's identified as a Clinton adviser...
just exacly why isn't he being referred to as a Kerry Adviser? That is his current occupation after all.
"There's no way the National Security advisor didn't understand that he was taking originals. He said he thought they were copies which is utter BS."
I agree especially since if the classification is high enough each copy is numbered and there are very few of them made. Not to mention everything is stamped "Original" or "Copy" somewhere around the top with big red letters.
Berger HAD to know what he was doing.
Just wait and see,Mr./Miss/Mrs. just signed up tomorrow newbie.
Oh, well....if you're gonna bring up that old stuff.....LOL.
Who was the Archive officials that called Berger in Oct??
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/07/19/berger040719.html
Taking handwritten notes is allowed but taking them out of the secure reading room is a technical violation of Archive procedure.
"But it is not at all clear to us this represents a violation of the law," Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys said.
Archive officials contacted Berger last October after a review of the documents.
In January, the FBI searched Berger's home and office.
Ashcroft points out that the review said that Al Qaeda and other groups were operational in America and were planning another attack.
This is absolutely incredible.
Something was being hidden from the commission, don't you think?
How about Damgate then? :o)
I love that "undie gate".or boxer or brief gate. ROTFLMBO!!
Oh heavens, I'm so gorged on Schadenfreude I'm not sure I can walk!
How did he think he'd get away with it?
I've not been here for a few hours and couldn't follow the entire thread but how was he caught?
_____
WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department (news - web sites) investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes 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 after he voluntarily returned documents to the National Archives. However, still missing are 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.
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had made while reading classified anti-terror documents at the 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.
Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys, said his client has offered to cooperate fully with the investigation but had not yet been interviewed by the FBI or prosecutors. Berger has been told he is the subject of the criminal investigation, Breuer said.
There are federal laws strictly governing the handling of classified information, including prohibiting the unauthorized release or removal of such materials.
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 searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees told agents they believed they saw Berger place documents in his clothing while reading 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.
"When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded," he said.
Breuer said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified documents, not originals.
Berger was allowed to take handwritten notes but also knew that taking his own notes out of the secure reading room was a "technical violation of Archive procedures, but it is not all clear to us this represents a violation of the law," Breuer said.
Government and congressional officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe involves classified materials, said the investigation remains active and no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.
The officials said the missing documents were highly classified, and included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports and seaports.
Berger testified at one of the commission's public hearings about the Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism. The former president answered the panel's questions at a private meeting.
The former national security adviser himself had ordered his anti-terror czar Richard Clarke in early 2000 to write the after-action report and has spoken publicly about how the review brought to the forefront the realization that al-Qaida had reached America's shores and required more attention.
Berger testified that during the millennium period, "we thwarted threats and I do believe it was important to bring the principals together on a frequent basis" to consider terror threats more regularly.
The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton administration, officials and lawyers say. The Archives is believed to have copies of some of the missing documents.
In the FBI search of his office, Berger also was found in possession of a small number of classified note cards containing his handwritten notes from the Middle East peace talks during the 1990s, but those are not a focus of the current criminal probe, officials and lawyers said.
Breuer said the Archives staff first raised concerns with Berger during an Oct. 2 review of documents that at least one copy of the post-millennium report he had reviewed earlier was missing. Berger was given a second copy that day, Breuer said.
Officials familiar with the investigation said Archives staff specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others disappeared, Archives officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey to report the disappearance.
Berger immediately returned all the notes he had taken, and conducted a search and located two copies of the classified documents on a messy desk in his office, Breuer said. An Archives official came to Berger's home to collect those documents but Berger couldn't locate the other missing copies, the lawyer said.
He retained counsel, and in January the FBI executed search warrants of a safe at Berger's home as well as his business office where he found some of the documents. Agents also failed to locate the missing documents.
Justice Department officials have told the Sept. 11 commission of the Berger incident and the nature of the documents in case commissioners wanted more information, officials said. The commission is expected to release its final report Thursday.
Congressional intelligence committees, however, have not been formally notified.
"The House Intelligence Committee has not been informed on the loss or theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives, but we will follow up and get the information that is appropriate for the committee to have," the committee said Monday in a statement. "And if it has occurred, we should be informed. If there has been delay in getting the information to the committee we need to know why."
Berger is the second high-level Clinton-era official to face controversy over taking classified information home.
Former CIA (news - web sites) Director John Deutch was pardoned by Clinton just hours before Clinton left office in 2001 for taking home classified information and keeping it on unsecured computers at his home during his time at the CIA and Pentagon (news - web sites). Deutch was about to enter into a plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government secrets when the pardon was granted.
Now I know why the 9/11 Commission said Joe Wilson actually bolstered the case that Saddam was seeking to buy Uranium....... because Joe Wilson was under the impression that the Intel gathered on his first trip to Niger in 1999 was swept under the rug when Berger stuffed his pants with the Intel memos
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