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18 USC Sec 641 - "Whoever ... purloins ... without authoirty or disposes of any record, ... or thing of value ... of the United States or of any department or agency tehreof ... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both; but if the value of such property does not exceed the sum of $1,000, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both"

Yep. As a poster on this thread said eariler "Right now the FBI is less concerned with the charges than finding out where the missing documents are and to whom the information went to. Begin with Berger end with Kerry"

Well, according to this blogger, that may be the case:

http://wizbangblog.com/archives/003067.php

Trousergate

Noted author Steve Graham has the low down on the scandal that isn't a scandal yet.

I have a reader who is involved with the government's efforts to fight terror, and he has connections who tell him the big suspicion is that Berger took things he thought would help Kerry in the Presidential campaign. Also, the grapevine says not all of the documents taken were copies. Furthermore, I am told that an FBI agent described Berger as "a total asshole" who is not as cooperative as he claims.

Also, I am told that an effort is being made--either by the press or the Kerry/Berger camp; it's not very clear--to mount a sound bite campaign to put the matter to rest. The idea is to make it look like sloppiness, because the truth is that it was deliberate. And I am told that this scandal is much more serious than we have heard so far.
...It's a very bad thing if a former NSA and a Senator conspired to violate our national security in order to win an election. Much, much worse than wiretapping DNC headquarters, where no information of any importance has ever been known to exist. In other words, much, much worse than Watergate, in terms of the danger it poses to the U.S.

Maybe this is it - the one - the Watergate for the new millennium? If so it's going to be broken by blogs, and a few smart blog savvy journalists. Who is standing in our way?

Carl Bernstein - old, fat, splotchy, and probably due for another trip to detox. He's the Garfunkel to Woodward's Simon. The blogosphere can whip his ass with one hand tied behind it's back.
Bob Woodward - old, still protecting Deep Throat (Al Haig in case you were wondering), writing books these days. He still runs the occasional series in the Washington Post, so we better act fast before he catches wind of this.
Ben Bradlee - Not dead, but recovering from knee surgery. He's off on the lecture circuit and should pose no threat.

Now go sniff out the story - fame and riches await you!

Update: CNN reports the following:

In a statement issued late Monday, Berger said the removal of those papers was unintentional. But law enforcement sources told CNN that some of the papers he is said to have taken from the National Archives were stuffed into his socks as well as other parts of his clothing.

Which is another source to the Fox News story Stephen Green reported last night about hiding documents in his socks. When you have to haul out spinmeister Lanny Davis, you know trouble is brewing...

Former Clinton aide Lanny Davis challenged any unnamed official who accuses Berger of stuffing documents into his socks to come forward and level that charge publicly.
"I suggest that person is lying," he said. "And if that person has the guts, let's see who it is who made the comment that Sandy Berger stuffed something into his socks."
Davis called Berger "a person of impeccable honesty and integrity."
"He spent nights and 24-hour time periods before the millennium doing, I think, a critical job in thwarting a terrorist attack between 1999 and 2000, New Year's Eve," Davis told CNN's "American Morning."
"What we're told ... [is] he took copies of those memos inadvertently in his own notes. There's absolutely no basis for suggesting there is any national security issues here or harm done here."

After reading that it's obvious - he's guilty as sin...

Why didn't Hannity take your call today?