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 ...
Does anyone think this smells like Clinton taking down Kerry through Berger?
LOL
I havnt had so much fun since the last train wreck....
This is why he stole the documents and "lost" them: http://www.nationalreview.com/levin/levin200404151634.asp
70 posted on 07/19/2004 9:49:00 PM EDT by holdonnow
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Hope this is done correctly. I remember Ashcroft talking in code to this commission and I don't think that bjclinton/algore/berger has appeared before them yet.
"Oh OH .. I just remember that day of that hearing when Hellary walked out of the Room white as a ghost"
It was the day Secretary Rumsfeld was appearing before the Senate and HRC had let slip about seeing documents.....that Rumsfeld said HE had not seen at that time. The Abu Graib hearings.
That the Commission was so lax with classified documents further proves their uselessness.
Have any Archives' staff gone missing in the last nine months?
check out post 43 - nobody "inadvertently" takes sensitive docs in their pants.
He's in TROUBLE!! :)
I have a feeling the House and Senate Intel. comm's...are now INFORMED ! :-) TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS !
To your #1080 - now THAT'S a good scenario.
The question is will the DOJ be allowed to do what is needed here. They've given the Clintonistas a pass on everything else.
"just exacly why isn't he being referred to as a Kerry Adviser? That is his current occupation after all."
Just the media doing their usual CYA for their RAT brethren.
Nothing to see here move along. /sarcasm
More Arkancides to come?
Thank you, my friend, for my new tagline.
The statements from Ashcroft indicate that the Millennium Plot review detailed that Al Qaeda was operational in the United States and was planning an attack. These documents - and related documents - appear to be the ones Berger pilfered from the National Archive.
Absolutely incredible! Clinton knew that Al Qaeda was here, and he sent his national security advisor to steal classified information related to their activity!
More from DU... ROFLOL!!!
DubyaSux (45 posts) Mon Jul-19-04 11:18 PM
Response to Original message
66. My theory...
...it's possible the notes and documents had incriminating evidence.
But not against Clinton.
During the transition period, I'm sure Berger kept lots of notes. So, it's possible he can show Bush and Co. were full force on the Iraq bandwagon before he even took office.
Since Berger works for Kerry, he has a motive to do this. Bush could be devastated by documents showing he had every intention of invading Iraq regardless of what the intelligence showed.
Sounds plausible and possibly, legal if they were copies - not the originals.
obelus (7 posts) Mon Jul-19-04 11:38 PM
Response to Original message
69. This is as bad as it looks...
but possibly not for partisan reasons. Things have come to an ugly boil at the CIA with the Wilson/Plame affair, the number one and number two slots open after midnight resignations, and the infamous 16 little words. The CIA is now, I believe, on the offensive and not willing to take the fall for 9/11 or the rush to war in Iraq. From The Wilderness outlines this turnabout cogently as being the staging for criminal indictments to the uppermost reaches. A case can be made, perhaps, that the CIA has decided it will outlive any administration and will not simply roll over. They are willing to spill because they have been compromised and scapegoated and they are in the middle of something important.
It is altogether possible that senior executives--both Republican and Democrat may see jail. Berger's actions, if sustained, are clearly criminal. But there may be plenty of criminality to go around once Tenet starts speaking to a federal prosecutor. The spooks are angry.
Onyx, after I posted that, I read the most recent posts and learned that the document theft may have occurred around last October. Kerry's campaign wasn't doing too good then. Too many "ifs" at the moment, but if I were a reporter snooping into this thing, I'd sure want to dig into Berger's connections to Dem presidential wannabes. I'd want to correlate who used what info to what the stolen documents are about, and when it was used. Might make for an interesting bit of research.
Just one problem with that .. it's being reported Clinton sent Sandy to review the documents
If the Clinton's wanted to take Kerry down .. they would keep their name far away from the story
Thanks for that interesting tidbit and info on Lanny Budd. You never know what you'll learn from Freepers.
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