Sandy Berger Hires Clinton Lawyer Lanny Breuer, Contacts Prosecutors..'willing to cooperate'

CNN Morning Grind Politcs Memo ^ | 7/20/04 | John Mercurio

[gopwinsin04]

Sandy Berger has met much of the day with attorneys.

Among those he has hired is former Clinton administration lawyer Lanny Breuer.

Sources say Breuer has been in contact with prosecutors.

Sources also say Berger is stressing a willingness to cooperate, but investigators have not yet asked to speak with him.

Mr. Berger serves as an informal advisor to Senator John Kerry on national security matters.

[SF Republican]

A lawyer? he needs a body guard to worry about Arkanside

[Williams]

He destroyed nothing, he gave copies to his scumball pals so they could prepare their spin at the commission.

[leadpenny]

Great punchline at 33.

[gunnygail]

Too much work for the money. Burying bodies, spinning lies, stealing and destroying evidence... Talk about needed a HOT shower at the end of the day!

[NeoCaveman]

Hey Sandy, Stay out of Ft. Macy Park.

[WoodstockCat]

Is Ham-Berger-lar still listed as a Kerry advisor on his campaign website?

[gunnygail]

LOL! Yeah, right above Turd Chaser and below Ms Hand Job!

[1Old Pro]

Mr. Berger serves as an informal advisor to Senator John Kerry on national security matters.

So he "informally" stuffed secret documents in his underwear and "informally" hands them kerry.

[Judith Anne]

Interesting point, "subject of a probe, not a target."

Sincerely asking, is there that much difference?

Another thing I thought about, did Berger more or less assure his own safety, by performing a criminal action in (what seems to be) a blatant way, sure to get caught? In other words, now that he's being criminally investigated, there would be little opportunity to get him unobtrusively out of the picture, a la Ron Brown.

Mr. Brown was planning to blow the whistle, but didn't get a chance to--is Berger safer, now, since there's an investigation out in the press already?

Just a tinfoil thought...

[Judith Anne]

I was just wondering, is Berger helping to assure that he'll live through the investigation? Could he have wanted to get caught?

[A Citizen Reporter]

Apparently the press is already helping the Kerry campaign to distance itself from Bergler. I've heard it reported today that Bergler is an "unpaid" advisor to the Kerry campaign.

[gopwinsin04]

That's the next domino to fall, Flipper releasing Berger from his informal advisor position.

[BluH2o]

This is getting big ..... I smell poopy pants

Their greatest concern ... not being in power, which is a distinct disadvantage when it comes to playing cover up. The Clinton administration excelled at cover-up ... no more.

[finnigan2]

Wolf Blitzer just got through about 10 minutes of this on CNN.
I learned:
- The whole thing happened about 10 months ago. Why Berger is just now issuing statements about being willing to "cooperate" is puzzling.
- Apparently, more than one witness said they saw Sandy stuffing the documents into his socks.
- When asked if the incident might have been captured on video, the guest "expert" didn't know. Since Burger's mouthpiece is denying he took the documents out in his socks, a video, if one exists, would put him into deep doo-doo.
- Wolf spent about 5 of the 10 minutes trying to turn the discussion into speculation on the timing of the leak and that it had to be the dastardly Republicans, to turn attention away from the 9/11 smear due out Thursday. The reporter from USA Today had to bring him back by reminding him that regardless of timing, it didn't excuse Burger's actions. Wolf quickly shut up.

[Sacajaweau]

I'm almost inclined to believe that Hillary and Bubba are the targets of the fallout from this.

I remember hearing: "Can he be charged with a crime which occured during his tenure after he leaves office?" It's why he cut a deal minutes before he left office. But if that deal was for the scope of only what was known at the time, maybe we'll still see him in jail.

Martha can cook for him and set the table with colors to match his eyes.

[monkeywrench]

There's alot going on here we don't see. Wasn't bergler tied to los alamos labs? They just reported another theft the other day. He's kerry's "national security advisor"? Is there any info the chicoms are needing, yet?

[Ima Lurker]

No way.....won't happen. Sad, but true.

[jimbo123]

A 'Target' vs. a 'Subject'

What constitutes a "target" and a "subject" when it comes to a federal investigation?

Target

A "target" is a person who is likely to be indicted. The U.S. Attorneys' Manual defines a target as a "person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant."

Subject

A "subject" of an investigation is a person whose conduct is within the scope of the grand jury's investigation, according to the manual. A subject may - or may not - ultimately become a target, legal experts say.

SOURCE: U.S. Attorneys' Manual

[GraniteStateConservative]

Wasn't this from October-- back when Dean was the odds-on favorite?

[Spok]

"Berger is stressing a willingness to cooperate"

I hope he avoids Fort Marcy Park.