Posted on 07/20/2004 6:27:11 PM PDT by beebuster2000
WASHINGTON, July 20 — A former national security adviser, Samuel R. Berger, quit his role as informal adviser to the presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry today amid a clamor over his improper handling of classified documents.
"Mr. Berger does not want any issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to be used for partisan purposes," Lanny Breuer, Mr. Berger's attorney, told The Associated Press late this afternoon. "With that in mind he has decided to step aside as an informal adviser to the Kerry campaign until this matter is resolved."
The decision to step aside came after a day in which Republicans zeroed in on the disclosure that Mr. Berger, who was President Bill Clinton's national security adviser, removed classified documents from the National Archives last year. Some Republicans wondered aloud today whether Mr. Berger had used the papers to help Senator Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Mr. Berger's mishandling of the documents, which were related to terrorism and which he took from the National Archives in preparation for his testimony before the 9/11 commission, seemed today to become a bigger problem for the Kerry campaign almost by the hour — and at the worst possible time, as Mr. Kerry is hoping to gain a big lift by next week's Democratic National Convention in Boston.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They are still spinning the "inadvertantly" angle like the liars they are.
But there are several very promising aspects to this column. Number one, they identify Berger right at the top as a Kerry campaign adviser, and only later do they bring in the clinton connection.
Number two, there are some very telling quotes from the Republicans and none from any Democrats. Only Berger's lawyer is willing to talk about this.
I was especially taken by this little nugget: 'A moment later, Mr. Smith said: "I just simply think it's important for the American people to know how disappointing this conduct is as they try to take down the president of the United States. The American people deserve better than this. And frankly, we expect more than this." ' I would have expected this remark to end up in the editor's wastebasket, not to make it into print.
See Drudge, according to the Sink Emperor, they've been laughing about this thing for months. According to Ketchup Boy, they learned about the probe yesterday. Hmmmmm. We are in for a ride...
The Rat convention is really heating up to be a Kennedy (Kerry} vs. Clinton (Clinton) battle for the Rat party.
Has Kerry ever specified exaclty who on his staff are 'informal advisors' and who are his 'formal advisors?' And are 'informal advisors' just 'formal advisors' who have been caught?
I think they should subpoena his phone calls too--who knew what he took when?
THey're still lying! He was NOT an informal advisor. A previous thread quoted him as being the official national security advisor to the Kerry campaign!!!
If that statement wasn't ludicrous it would almost be funny. Think Gorelick and Kerrey at this point. It is pitiful that the monkeys are now running the zoo............
And that Ashcroft does not have the spine to issue indictments..............
That jumped out at me as well. John F'in alQerry's hands have probably starting shaking so badly that he dropped his snifter of French cognac, and he's now looking into whether having it splashed on him qualifies him to receive another Purple Heart.
Number two, there are some very telling quotes from the Republicans and none from any Democrats. Only Berger's lawyer is willing to talk about this.
The Sink Emperor himself has come out with a very noncommital defense of Berger, but yes, all the Rats with future and present ambitions (Kerry, Hillary, Edwards, to name a few) are nowhere to be seen.
Hang onto your butts, people - it's gonna get real interesting from here.
DNC talking points will say and we the citizenry will hear:
Continuations of the “How could this story come out now?” line.
And quickly the points will turn to:
“All National Security Advisers do this.”
“Berger’s critics are right-wing Christians; they’re fundamentalist whack jobs who want to take away a women’s right to choose.”
“No attack on Sandy Berger ever fed a poor starving child.”
“This is all a distraction from the war in Iraq and the failure to find WMD. What about abu Graib”
“Fawn Hall shredded documents.”
“This investigation has dragged out way long and cost too much money.”
“This is all about politics. It’s time to move on and get about creating jobs in this the worst economy since Hoover.”
“The motives of the prosecutors are suspect.”
“What’s the big deal. Everyone lies about stuffing their pants.”
“The people in France are shocked and don’t understand the big fuss in the states about this.”
Story dies in the three days. Berger is back on the team in no time. Moved on.
Re#25 Sure looking like it. Oh, to really know what's up...
I noticed that as well. Front page for Berger's resignation after burying the story of the theft on page 17.
It reminds me of the Condit story, where they did not even print a story about the missing woman, but then when the body was found, it was big news.
re#32 Yep. This thing is getting very intersting---and fast...
Is this the same John Kerry who called Republicans "crooks" just a few weeks ago? He's not even nominated yet, and they are already thinking about indicting one of his advisors. More to the point, why is Kerry bending over backwards to defend Berger? Maybe because he's aware that Berger knows too much.
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