Posted on 07/20/2004 6:24:20 PM PDT by HAL9000
(CBS/AP) Former national security adviser Sandy Berger quit Tuesday as an informal adviser to Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign after disclosure of a criminal investigation into whether he mishandled classified terrorism documents.Berger expressed regret over the incident, which he called an "honest mistake."
His decision to quit the Kerry campaign came as both parties sought to use the investigation to gain political advantage or to control damage.
Republicans said the probe raises questions about whether the former Clinton administration official was trying to hide embarrassing materials from the public. Democrats questioned why disclosure of a months-old investigation came just before Thursday's release of the final report by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.
The report is expected to be highly critical of the government's handling of the pre-Sept. 11 terror threat.
"So is this about Sandy Berger, or is this about politics?" asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
Former President Clinton also weighed in, telling reporters at a Denver autograph session for his book "My Life" that "it's interesting timing."
Berger served as national security adviser for all of Clinton's second term. "I know him. He's a good man. He worked his heart out for this country," Clinton said.
Speaking to reporters outside his office Tuesday, Berger said: "Last year, when I was in the Archives reviewing documents, I made an honest mistake. It's one that I deeply regret.
"I dealt with this issue in October 2003 fully and completely. Everything that I have done all along in this process has been for the purpose of aiding and supporting the work of the 9-11 commission, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply absolutely wrong."
The Justice Department is investigating whether Berger committed a crime by removing from the National Archives documents about the government's anti-terror efforts and notes that he took on those documents. Berger was reviewing the materials to help determine which Clinton administration documents to provide to the Sept. 11 commission.
CBS Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts reports Berger returned to the archives all but two of the documents - which he believes he accidentally threw away. An FBI search of his home in January turned up nothing. And late Tuesday, law enforcement sources say they don't expect charges to be filed.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters the case was about theft and questioned a statement by Berger issued Monday attributing the removal of the documents and notes to sloppiness. Along with putting documents in his coat and pants, Berger acknowledged removing some documents in a portfolio. He returned most of the documents, but some still are missing.
"That's not sloppy," DeLay said. "I think its gravely, gravely serious what he did, if he did it. It could be a national security crisis."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said he was "profoundly troubled" by the allegations, adding that Berger "has a lot of explaining to do."
Lanny Breuer, Berger's attorney, said his client has offered to cooperate with investigators. He said the decision to step aside from the Kerry campaign was done because "Mr. Berger does not want any issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to be used for partisan purposes."
Deputy Attorney General James Comey would not comment on the investigation other than that in general the Justice Department regards takes "very, very seriously" allegations of mishandled classified materials.
"It's our lifeblood, those secrets," Comey said.
The documents involved have been a key point of contention between the Clinton and Bush administrations on the question of who responded more forcefully to the threat of al Qaeda terrorism. Written by former National Security Council aide Richard Clarke, they discuss the 1999 plot to attack U.S. millennium celebrations and offer more than two dozen recommendations for improving the response to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
In his April 13 testimony to the Sept. 11 commission, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the review "warns the prior administration of a substantial al Qaeda network" in the United States. Ashcroft said it also recommends such things as using tougher visa and border controls and prosecutions of immigration violations and minor criminal charges to disrupt terror cells.
"These are the same aggressive, often-criticized law enforcement tactics that we have unleashed for 31 months to stop another al Qaeda attack," Ashcroft told the panel. He added that he never saw the documents before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Berger said in his March 23 testimony that Clinton submitted a $300 million supplemental budget to Congress to pay for implementing many of the documents' recommendations. Berger acknowledged, however, that not all of them were accomplished.
In his statement Monday, Berger said that every Clinton administration document requested by the Sept. 11 commission was provided to the panel. Berger also said he returned some classified documents and all his handwritten notes when he was asked about them, except for two or three copies of the millennium report that may have been thrown away.
Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the Sept. 11 commission, said the Berger investigation will have no bearing on the panel's highly anticipated report.
"This is a matter between the government and an individual," Felzenberg said. "They were not our documents, and we believe we have access to all the materials we need to see to do our report."
Oopsie.
Oh, nevermind. The thief's a Democrat.
Betcha' Babs didn't like Fawn Hall at all.
Otherwise, Whitey Bulger, stolen FBI files, FBI conspiracies to murder <----- all ignored by President Bush, yet again.
Clinton as a character witness somehow just doesn't work for me.
"Mr. Berger does not want any issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to be used for partisan purposes."
I think he's being sloppy again, he meant to say Republican partisan purposes. Too bad he wasn't worrying about the integrity of the process when he was stealing classified documents.
Since the mainstream lefty press will do their best to quickly bury what emerges from Berger's pilfering episodes, I'm going to entertain myself by setting up a betting pool predicting how long it takes them to do so.
If the GOP allows this matter to drop, I'm going to allow my volunteer work and financial support of the GOP "drop" as well. I'm TIRED OF THIS.
#4..For less than this, Chuck Colson, & others in the Nixon administration, went to prison.
As far as the leak, I just read on Drudge that Bill Clinton is claiming to have known about this investigation for months. And the Kerry Campaign is saying they didn't know anything about this???? Something's definitely rotten here.
Typical Democrat/Clinton sleight of hand. Nobody has charged that Berger "did not work his heart out for this country".
It is the same style of misdirection that Kerry and Cleland and Daschle and others use when they protest that Republicans have questioned their patriotism (when, instead, Republicans have questioned votes, policies, and statements that they have made).
Leave it to the Rats to spin this as a matter of "timing," and leave it to the Republicans to sit there with their thumbs in their ears, hoping not to get anyone mad at them.
I am so sick of this "New Tone" garbage I could scream. If this doesn't get them to take off the white gloves, nothing, absolutely nothing will.
These people STILL control the IRS, and worse.
How many FBI files can they steal for it to be A-OK forever under the Bush Administration?
Prosecutors: No Dice on Berger Deal
Justice Department prosecutors have reportedly rejected several offers from former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger's lawyer to resolve the department's eight-month long investigation into his illegal removal of top secret documents from the 9/11 Commission's reading room.
Two sources associated with the investigation told CNN that lawyer Lanny Breuer made a detailed statement of Berger's view of the facts at issue several months ago. According to the unnamed sources, Berger has offered to talk to the Justice Department about a resolution to the probe.
In the intervening months, Breuer has renewed Berger's offer to come clean several times.
But in a bad omen for the former top Clinton national security official, the Justice Department has repeatedly rebuffed the offer and refused to enter into any discussions.
Instead, Deputy Attorney General James Comey warned Tuesday that Berger - who resigned hours ago as a top campaign advisor to presidential candidate John Kerry - could face jail time.
"It is against the law for anyone to intentionally mishandle classified information, either by taking it to give to somebody else, or by mishandling in a way that is outside the regulations of government information," Comey told reporters in Washington.
Instead, Deputy Attorney General James Comey warned Tuesday that Berger - who resigned hours ago as a top campaign advisor to presidential candidate John Kerry - could face jail time.
"It is against the law for anyone to intentionally mishandle classified information, either by taking it to give to somebody else, or by mishandling in a way that is outside the regulations of government information," Comey told reporters in Washington.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1175232/posts
(don't believe CBS.)
On Fox News earlier it was reported that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, referred to this as a "third rate burglary".
I agree with you.
It was also a great deal more than that. But seems that ' a mistake in judgment' is sufficient explanation for Berger to be treated a little differently under the law. Or perhaps it is just the luck of the Democrats in Washington.
While Demrats cry for Bush's impeachment; we will not pursue this matter of what at least is a deliberate and incredible breach of National Security. . .and we will listen to the Demrats remind us at every opportunity; as to how great a patriot Berger is; that he was only taking home 'memos' that everyone in town had access to.
We will listen to more and more of their lies; and take their hate and blame for this as well that it was a Republican plot to smear Clinton and/or Kerry.
By November 4th; the Repubs will have attempted to overthrow the democratic process by this maneuver.
I am so furious, I feel like I may not even vote. But perhaps I am over-reacting. And the above judgment of not prosecuting may be just a rumor put out by the Lib/Left machine.
Right. . .
In the acts of smuggling classified material out of it's authorized place of "safe keeping", the "Turkey" committed criminal acts. He should be strung up immediately after a fair trial. Why the government doesn't act would also be criminal, if it comes to that.
CLINTON SAYS BERGER-DOCUMENTS FUROR IS JUST POLITICS: 'WE WERE ALL LAUGHING ABOUT IT'
Laughing, yea, what a jerk!!!!
I hope and pray that nothing less than charges and a full Senate investigation is called.
However, I won't hold my breath.
If you don't vote, then they have won.
That's how I look at it. I get frustrated too, but I want President Bush to win this election because he is the best man for the job, and because I want to spend the week after just taunting the liberals. :o)
Did you see another post above that totally contradicts what the first post said about them not pressing charges?
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