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 ...
I would not advise to beg for the best. Clintonistas follow Clinton, and that means they will lie on orders.
chinese connections may be unhappy with him now
It's the lead on Couric!!
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/07/20/berger.probe/index.html
Asked if it unusual that Berger has not yet been interviewed, the government official familiar with the investigation responded that investigators would do so once they are satisfied they have the evidence they need.
Sources close to Berger said they did not believe there was a grand jury impaneled as part of the investigation and that to the best of their knowledge, Clarke and other Clinton administration officials who have knowledge of the documents in question -- and specifically about any changes made in the drafting process of the millennium report -- have not been questioned.
Whoa. That amazes me. Is Colic spinning heard enough to make Linda Blair jealous? E.D. on FNC just said that some of the docs missing didn't have copies, that they were originals with no duplicates made. Is that the case?! If so...
When I went to bed last night I did not know that Berger took documents the first time he visited the Archives and so of course they were suspicious. The next visit he made, they had pages marked and he took THOSE documents too.
This just keeps getting better and better.
And I've got another question. If some of those docsd were originals with NO copies, why couldn't someone replace an original with another doc, slightly altered. For instance, if Toon wanted to rewrite history by changing a line or word or date, why couldn't someone just exchange docs with no-one being the wiser?
Now they are throwing out the argument that the release of the Berger investigation is politically motivated!
Sandy apologized for being so sloppy. I'm sure this apology was directed to the Cs, not the American people, as if he would have been more careful he would not have been caught and once again let the world know how little the dims regard the laws of our land.
The big question now is, WHO HAS THE MISSING HIGHLY CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS?
That's what I asked before going to bed. Could Berger have added some papers?
FNC reports pages were marked with a little mark so officials could more easily track what was taken.
FNC reports that both times he took the same reports!
('cept Berger stole the documents, ya know)!!
Sounds just like Hillary when she said the Repubs were the left-wing conspiracy and after her hubby!!!!!
Are you kidding? Gergen thinks this is a Republican thing?
The only way a Republican could be involved in this is leaking the information. It's been going on since October and we know a Democrat wasn't going to leak it. Hah!
Betting that only the top page was marked, probably with initials. I'm trying to understand who or why gave him a second copy.
What a scum-stain is the Clinton Legacy.
Didn't he take the second copy after the first one went missing (because he took it)?
All I know is that I've been to several prestigous archives and if I had put something in my clothes, I would have never gotten out of there. Some archivist is out of a job or sleeping with someone.
I also thought I heard that it was Clarke that wrote up the millenium report.
Katie asked one tough question, the rest were softballs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.