Posted on 07/19/2004 9:10:57 PM PDT by ambrose
No decision on whether Sandy Berger should face charges
7/19/2004 10:02 PM
By: Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Government and congressional officials said the investigation of Sandy Berger for taking classified Sept. 11 documents is still active.
They also said no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.
The officials said the missing documents from a secure reading room at the National Archives include critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats.
The documents also deal with identifying America's terror vulnerabilities at airports and sea ports.
Berger said he knowingly took handwritten notes, but inadvertently took documents.
Meanwhile, a statement from the House Intelligence Committee said it has not yet been informed about the loss or theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives.
Swing a deal with him, he can aviod a 10 year prison term if he comes clean with all of Bubba's (and Hillary's)lies.
I mean, dear Sandy merely stole top secret information related to Al Qaeda being operational in the United States at the behest of Bill Clinton.
I guess covering up for terrorists and the Democrat Party is a real yawn these days.
Err, "no." :)
And meet the same fate as Jim McDougal?
Twice.
What is it with Clinton and his cronies, they seem to get away with everything?!!
Theft reported in October. House and office searched in January (or there abouts). Still under investigation. This is about more than Sandy Berger.
There will be no prosecution. New tone and all.
This story will be old news in 48 hours.
If republicans do not seize this and expose these people they are idiots and I will never vote again,could you imagine if it was someone on the Bush team they would destroy him and Bush, Republicans must seek and destroy NOW!!!
"Theft reported in October. House and office searched in January (or there abouts). Still under investigation. This is about more than Sandy Berger."
I agree. That is when, January" the 911 Commission asked for an extension, Clarke's book was going to be late three months.
No, he took a copy so they made a new one and he took the new copy along with other documents at that time.
Why there even has to be a debate on whether or not to charge him is beyond me! Like one previous poster said, that seems to imply that this goes beyond Sandy Berger.
Since they called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey about it, this might go farther than we think.
Do you honestly believe that? I cannot let myself get excited again and then have nothing come of it!
Tell him to fess up or it's panties on the head time.
There is absolutely no integrity left in government anymore. Both parties are fast losing all credibility.
Berger said he knowingly took handwritten notes, but inadvertently took documents.
Twice.
Yep, those pesky ole folders full of documents just jumped in ole Sandy's pants pockets. Hope he is able to find them quicker than Hitlary was tho.
One more chapter in the Hill and Billary legacy. I believe the two folks are the anti-Christ.
I think I'm with you, but can you explain it a little further?
AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department 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 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.PERHAPS UNCLE BILL KNOW THAT Al-Qaida was going to use Planes on the US.
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(Down his) pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved(SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE TRIAL ATTORNEY), 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.(HE EVIDENTLY WAS ABOVE THE LAW).
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(KERRY BETTER HAVE THE SMARTS TO DUMP THIS STIFF). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.
Audio
Solomon reports Berger has been told he's the focus of the Justice Department investigation of missing terrorism documents.
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.(THE DOG CHEWED IT UP- I THINK I USED THAT ONE IN COLLEGE)
"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.(tHAT SAID THAT BIN LADEN WAS GOING TO USE AIRPLANES TO ATTACK THE UNITED STATES, SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL OF A FEW MISSING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS THAT THE 9-11 COMMITTIE DIDN'T GET TO SEE BECAUSE MY DOG ATE THEM.
"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.(HIS DOG ATE THEM REALLY! THE GUY IS NOT EVEN A GOOD LIAR!)
Breuer said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified documents, not originals.(THEY HAD ALREADY DISPOSED OF ALL THE ORIGINALS BUT FORGOT THESE COPIES THAT THEY NEEDED TO DISPOSE OF).
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.(TRUE CONTEMPT OF LAW)
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.(HAD TO HID THE FACT THAT THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION KNEW HOW BAD BIN LADEN WANTED TO US PLANES).
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.(YES! THE SAME I'M SORRY RICHARD CLARKE).
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.(HOW ACCURATE IS A REPORT WHEN ITEMS ARE MISSING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN IT. THIS WAS A PARTISAN WITCH HUNT AND AGAIN THIS SHOWS THE LEVEL THAT THE DEMOCRAPS GO TO HIDE SHIT.
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 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.
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