Federal probe targets Clinton's national security adviser

CNN.com ^ | July 20, 2004 | John King

[cyncooper]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Samuel Berger, former President Clinton's national security adviser, is under federal criminal investigation for allegedly removing classified documents and handwritten notes from a National Archives screening room during preparations for his testimony before the 9/11 commission.

Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed it to CNN on Monday.

The sources told CNN the investigation began last October, after Berger spent roughly 30 hours over three or four days reviewing what one said was "tens of thousands of pages" of Clinton administration documents to comply with a request from the 9/11 commission.

Berger was designated as the official from the Clinton administration who would review documents relevant to commission inquiries. He was also a witness at the 9/11 commission hearings and reviewed records to prepare for his personal testimony.

~snip~

A Berger associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the FBI served warrants and searched both Berger's home and office earlier this year as part of the investigation.

A government official familiar with the investigation said that some documents are still missing.

Among the documents Berger says he inadvertently took, the sources confirmed, were drafts of a Clinton administration "after action" report on efforts to thwart al Qaeda around the time of the millennium.

Archives officials told investigators that at least one draft of that report is still missing.

Officials close to Berger said it was ludicrous to suggest that he was trying to hide damaging information from the 9/11 commission.

They said the drafts were written by Clinton counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke and had been changed somewhat, as is customary, as the drafts were circulated among relevant agencies and officials.

But the sources close to Berger said there were other copies of the drafts, that the commission had the final version of the report and that Clarke had said there were not significant changes during the drafting process.

The sources said the FBI had contacted Berger several months ago and that he hired Lanny Breuer, who has since been in contact with prosecutors.

~snip~

[ArmyBratproud]

I wonder if he will delay his return?!

[tractorman]

I think this Thursday’s Commission Report will be delayed as events continue to develop.

[EllaMinnow]

We're talking about a member of the Clinton White House! When speaking of a former Clinton official, it's justified to assume malicious intent!!

Unless you're a former Clinton official yourself, like Clarke is. All he knows how to say is

"Pass the Kool-Aid, please!"

[Mo1]

Did you catch the clip of the Repub Senator's responses on FNC just now .. LOL

[Mo1]

FNC also mentioned that when Sandy returned the documents .. the NA said there where documents they didn't know were missing

One of the documents Sandy took was a leather bound file of documents

[ArmyBratproud]

I don't know if the Dems on the Commission would allow a delay. I am sure they were counting on using the political report as part of the Dem Convention...

They would just spin this off as a non issue and then go on with their screams of stupidity......The Convention plays to mainly..their constituents....so the truth won't matter.
It may be a mistake not to delay the report....but I just don't see them, or the moderate republicans who they play like a cheap fiddle, delaying the report.

[cyncooper]

No--I didn't have Fox on. What did they say?

[cyncooper]

Gosh, I'm back on Fox now. I missed all that.

[poindexter]

"Let's not forget: Berger is an advisor to the Kerry campaign."

And don't forget: "advisors" to campaigns end up being officials in an administration if the candidate wins. So if Kerry wins, Berger will probably end up as NSA again, unless he's in jail!

[Benrand]

Look, I'm not being defensive, my client has done nothing wrong. Just because he had some bits of paper stuffed in his underwear doesn't mean anything. I'll let you know that he was doing it because he happened to be going to a night club directly after reviewing those papers. See, it's an innocent explanation, he wanted to impress a girl he was seeing, the daughter of a failed Presidential candidate with the initials WM. Maybe you should talk to him, see what he has to say.

My client wanted nothing other than a larger package, it's as simple as that and he didn't have an empty sock nearby.

[LisaS]

You are exactly correct. Bush leads Kerry in polls that ask who would do a better job fighting the WOT. This will add to Kerry's low score. How can he be trusted?

[Shermy]

One guess is that earlier drafts mentioned "hijackings" or "planes into buildings" - the final version did not.

[Mo1]

Sorry for popping in and out so much .. DANG KIDS

But .. remember in a couple of the articles it mentioned Berger had clasified notes from the 90's Mideast Peace talks?

What other documents does Sandy have ??

And what other committes has Sandy reviewed documents from??

Could he have also taken documents from other places also???

[Wolfstar]

The sources told CNN the investigation began last October, after Berger spent roughly 30 hours over three or four days reviewing what one said was "tens of thousands of pages" of Clinton administration documents...

I think we can safely say the statement released yesterday by Berger and his attorney was a lie. So among the many questions I have about this episode, I now wonder how many times Sandy "inadvertently" stuffed documents into his pants.

Something evil this way comes...

[onyx]

Please go to your latest ping from me.
Be sure you're sitting down before you
read post #21.

[tractorman]

Even liberals don’t like being laughed at.
By Thursday, the embarrassment factor will be too high to not delay the report.

[My2Cents]

An interesting comment from a Mark Levin column on NRO, back in April, since the Millenium attack documents were in large part what Berger stuffed down his pants:

...In other words, the "wall of separation" constructed by Jamie Gorelick made it virtually impossible for U.S. authorities to stop Ahmed Rassam, the "Millenium Bomber," by design or intention. It was left to blind luck. The NSC's Millennium After Action Review — which, based on Attorney General Ashcroft's testimony, must be devastating in its analysis of not only this event but of the Gorelick policy — remains classified. And, most significantly, it's likely the Review's criticisms and warnings were either ignored or rejected by the Clinton Justice Department.

Given all the past intelligence information that has been made public by the 9/11 Commission — including the August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief, which had never before been released — there appears to be no legitimate basis for the 9/11 Commission keeping the Review under lock and key. It's time to release it.

Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/levin/levin200404151634.asp

[js1138]

Now we know that Al Gore had visited the National Archives just before his Rolling Stone photo shoot.

[Wolfstar]

I'm going to need to take some time this evening to pull all these disparate facts together for myself. I need to try to figure out a coherent whole, because right now it's breaking way too fast for me to keep up. It's a tangled mess.