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 picked that up also....there is more to this I bet.
"inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents"
???????WHAT?????????
LIAR !!
Because you can't TAKE notes and leave the room with them.
Former CIA 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. Deutch was about to enter into a plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government secrets when the pardon was granted.
Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?
Or a sting?...(I can dream)
OMG.....they are ALL thieves!!!!!
That's not a problem to me I actually enjoy courtesy of FR "Scooping" the rest of the media around the coffee pot at work. First the "You're BSing! That can't be true."
Then once the lamestream media catches up hearing "Damn!" "Where did you find that piece of news?"
So is this going to be another "memogate" were the REAL crime gets covered up?
Why on earth did Justice not inform Congress!
I know what you mean. In the immortal words of Han Solo: I've got a bad feeling about this :(
Is this a "big thing?"
I'm really worried for Berger right now.
More clearly: Who was Sandy working for when he did this? What circumstances made this the time right time to purloin? Would it not have been far less risky to pay some LOC staffer $6Gs to loose all the copies? Maybe someone really needed to have a copy (switch to nuanced, Clinton-think for Berger lie-detector-foolingly calling them "copies").
Maybe Sandy thought he was heading off the records becoming electronically searchable, where his writing would surely come back to bite him.
HF
THE WHITE HOUSE
November 17, 2000
7:00 P.M. (L)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I want to thank Senator Kerry for what he said and for what he's done all these years, and for being a wonderful friend to Hillary and me in many, many ways. And I want to thank Sandy Berger, and our whole team in the White House and State Department for supporting this trip from the beginning. And I want to associate myself with what Hillary said -- now that she's going to be a senator, I can just let her give the speeches and I can say, "I completely agree." And that will save everyone from having to hear two speeches. (Laughter.)
But I do want to say a couple of things, if I might. First, I, too, want to thank you for the endless hours you have put in in preparation for this trip, and for the work you have done representing our nation here in Vietnam.
I want to thank especially the Vietnamese nationals who work at our Embassy, and who, therefore, embody this new partnership we have worked so hard to build these last several years.
We started this process of reconstructing our relationship a long time ago, and I have been working at it now, with the people on this stage and others, for at least eight years. And I'm very grateful to all of them. But I want to take my time tonight to say a special word of thanks to Pete Peterson.
Most everybody I guess in Vietnam knows that he was a fighter pilot here, that he was a prisoner of war here. You may know that his wife was nine months pregnant with their third child when he came here. He was supposed to fly 100 missions, and he was shot down two-thirds of the way through. And by the time he got home, his son was six years old.
What you may not know is that when I met him, he was a congressman from northern Florida, and he represented a district in which, I promise you, was the only American in my party who would have ever been elected from that district. (Laughter.) Otherwise, any normal person would have had to be a member of the other party.
And I remember the times we spent driving through his congressional district, talking about his commitment to public service, and talking about how desperately he wanted us to have a new relation with Vietnam, and how he wanted to embody that, going beyond.
So when the time came for a new ambassador to be named, I literally only considered one person. America has I don't know how many, 270-something-million people -- I only considered one person to be our ambassador to Vietnam, and Pete agreed to do it.
Now, he gave all those speeches about letting go of the past, and looking toward the future, and all we can change is the future. So he -- one thing I like about Pete is he always practices what he preaches. So he comes to Vietnam, meets Vietnam and starts a new life. So you are the embodiment, madam, of the future for Pete, and we thank you, and we thank you for what you have done. (Applause.)
He traveled all over Vietnam, just like he traveled all over America, promoting this relationship. He worked on the POW-MIA issue. He worked to advance the economy of Vietnam. Three times he led the lobbying to get our Congress to support our Jackson-Vanik waiver. His enthusiasm is completely infectious.
I understand, Pete, today that CNN and BBC carried the signing of our bilateral trade agreement live at 3:00 a.m. Hanoi, and watch parties were held all over town. Now, that's pretty amazing.
I also want to thank him for the work he did to prevent injuries and accidents here with his safety campaign. And I want to express my sympathies, because I understand after you started this safety campaign, a mischievous television film crew caught you in a rare moment riding your motorcycle without a helmet. (Laughter.) Now, that's something all of us who have been in public life can identify with. (Laughter.)
I want to thank you for befriending the villagers in the area where you were shot down, and joining them to inaugurate a school. And I want to thank those of you who work in this Embassy, especially those of you who have extended your tours from two years to three. I want to thank the members of the American business community, apparently who have signed a resolution cautioning the new President not to change the Ambassador in Hanoi. (Laughter.) That's good advice to the new President. (Laughter.)
One of the most famous sayings of the Buddha is, "Never does hatred by hatred cease; hatred ceases by love alone." This is an eternal law. Even eternal laws have to be made real in the lives of particular people, and that is a law which has been made real in the life and service of Pete Peterson.
He doesn't know I'm going to do this today, but the Ambassador has been honored for his military service with the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and the Legion of Merit for heroism in the uniform of his country. I think his service as Ambassador to Vietnam is the most important service he has ever rendered to the United States. And so, in the presence of all of his co-workers and friends and many of their rambunctious children, which makes it even better, I am going to award Pete Peterson with the President's Citizen's Medal. And I would like the commander to read the citation and then bring the medal up here so I can give it to Pete. (Applause.)
(The citation is read.) (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR PETERSON: Well, I have been surprised before, but never so surprised -- and never so honored, may I add. President Clinton, I cannot tell you how much this means to me.
Working here as an American citizen, doing good things, after having been here doing things not so good at another time, is a rare opportunity for anyone. I really believe that America can help make Vietnam a peaceful, constructive nation for the foreseeable future.
No other nation has the compassion; no other nation has the capacity to do it. If America's not willing to do it, Vietnam would ultimately remain a third world country. And that's why this team is here, because they all share this belief. And we are deeply honored to have had the opportunity to serve our nation in carrying out that goal, but also to help the Vietnamese, the people -- you mentioned the FSN that we have -- they're so wonderful -- but the people of Vietnam who have their quality of life raised to new heights.
And so this medal means a great deal to me. But, believe me, I share it with all of my friends, and certainly all of our staff, both Vietnamese and American, because all of them have sacrificed in some way to make this relationship stronger, better, longer-lasting and creative.
So thank you very much for this incredible surprise. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much.
END 7:20 P.M. (L)
Would you give a heads-up to Jay Rockefeller and JOHN EDWARDS? Both are on the Intelligence committee.
Since he was the National Security Advisor, I dispute your claim he wasn't trying to protect himself. I'll say it was that plus protecting Clinton. The record is replete with Clinton cronies "rolling over one more time" and doing his bidding for no apparent reason. But this time clearly Berger would have been involved in the issues.
Well it's a big thing if the Iraq <---> al Qauda connection turns up in Berger's pants.
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.