Posted on 07/23/2004 9:37:06 PM PDT by conservative in nyc
ASHINGTON, July 23 - Officials at the National Archives were so concerned about Samuel R. Berger's removal of classified documents last year that they imposed new security measures governing the review of sensitive material, including the installation of full-time surveillance cameras, government officials said Friday.
The new policy, issued March 31 to security officers at the archives, lays out toughened steps for safeguarding research rooms used by nongovernmental employees who are given special access to classified material. And it demands "continuous monitoring" of anyone reviewing such material.
The restrictions were put in place as a direct result of the Berger episode, said a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the continuing investigation.
Mr. Berger, the national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, has acknowledged that he took several copies of classified documents from a secure reading room last year when preparing for testimony before the Sept. 11 commission. He said the removal was a careless mistake, but leading Republicans have accused him of stashing documents in his clothing intentionally, perhaps as a way of hiding information that could be considered damaging to the Clinton administration.
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation to determine whether federal laws on the handling of classified material may have been broken, and the disclosure of the investigation this week forced Mr. Berger to step down as a senior foreign policy adviser to Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign. Democrats have accused the Bush administration of leaking word of the investigation and exaggerating its importance to distract attention from this week's final report of the Sept. 11 commission.
After the issue first flared on Tuesday, Mr. Berger told reporters outside his Washington office that he had made "an honest mistake" and that he deeply regretted it.
He has maintained a low profile since then, even as the political furor over the case has grown. An associate of Mr. Berger said Friday that "this is a situation that any human being would find difficult.''
"He's tired," the associate said, "and he's reading through lots of e-mails from friends and doing work and just trying to deal with all this."
National Archives officials have reached no judgments on Mr. Berger's motives in removing the documents, and one law enforcement official said, "We don't know what he was thinking when he did it."
Nonetheless, officials at the National Archives viewed the episode as troubling enough that they reviewed their security procedures and issued new guidelines for dealing with nongovernmental researchers like Mr. Berger.
The guidelines do not refer specifically to Mr. Berger or his case, but they emphasize careful monitoring of researchers, prohibit cellphones, hand-held computers and other electronic devices in classified research rooms, and limit the volume and type of material that researchers may review.
Archive security officials use surveillance cameras at many of their public research sites. But the archives did not have cameras at the classified site in Washington that Mr. Berger used, and no video was taken of his research, officials said.
Concern over his case led the archives to install a surveillance system in the Washington research room and any areas used for classified research, said a second government official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Susan Cooper, spokeswoman for the National Archives and Records Administration, said the agency routinely reviewed security procedures. But Ms. Cooper added that after the Berger episode, "it's fair to say that in light of the incident we took a look at what our procedures were and redid the guidelines and regulations to strengthen them."
The National Archives maintains about 25 public research sites around the country that allow researchers to sift through billions of pages of documents, the vast majority of them unclassified. For a small number of former senior government officials like Mr. Berger who retain security clearances, the agency also has separate classified research areas in Washington; College Park, Md.; and at some presidential libraries.
Mr. Berger, designated the Clinton administration's point man in reviewing documents for the Sept. 11 commission, visited the Washington research room three times in the summer and fall of 2003, spending a total of about 30 hours reviewing thousands of pages of classified documents, officials said.
After his second visit last September, security officials became suspicious because some copies of documents he reviewed appeared to be missing. Mr. Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, said Mr. Berger later realized he had mixed in with his leather portfolio three or four versions of a lengthy classified report on terrorism. The report centered on millennium bombing plots in December 1999, and it concluded that counterterrorism efforts had not made a significant dent in Al Qaeda operations and that "sleeper cells" may have taken root in the United States, officials said.
Mr. Berger also acknowledged that he improperly put in his pockets some notes he wrote in reviewing the documents.
Aw, isn't that touching? Bergler's copping the usual Clintonoid MO when caught with your pants down (or stuffed with secret documents) .....stooping, whining, and assuming the position of "victim."
I notice that the ink isn't even dry on the charges, and The Club is already planning a Resurrection of this Pantload.
Can just imagine the emails Bergler is getting.
"Cheer up, friend. We'll get you through this. We have a nice seven-figure job waiting for you after you get exonerated."
"It's those damn conservatives. It was only US national security and you're being treated like a criminal. We all know you're perfect."
"I'm the editor of Bill Clinton's book. I'd like to offer you $5M to write your version of this."
Lindsey is Bill Clinton's official liaison person with the NA. However, it couldn't have been Lindsey who had the authority to approve Berger, but only Bill himself. But Bill Clinton is not president (although this may come as a surprise to him) and to my knowledge is not the head of any agency and in fact occupies no official position. So how does even Clinton get the authority to permit Berger this access?
I think we are going to find that several people at the NA bent the rules for Berger at the personal request of Bill. In other words, he had no authority to make this request, but because (as we have documented on another post) the NA is relentlessly anti-Bush, it was probably easy for him to whisper in the ears of the archivists. ("Uh, won't ya just, uh, let muh buddy Sandy here, uh, have a little, uh, time to himself, uh.") It's the usual Clinton story. Wherever that man goes, he leaves a trail of lies and broken laws.
This is a war, CinN, and these people are the enemy within. Days like this, I thank God for our 2nd amendment.
I think he's already done it.
As Liz observes in post 38, it's very unusual for a clinton operative to admit to wrongdoing-- certainly more so at Berger's level. And I don't think it's because he was caught red-handed, either. That's never kept this bunch from denying everything before.
The one thing Berger, his lawyers and apologists are NOT trying to move attention from is the particular documents Berger took---all from the Millenium Plot Report. This is not natural. If they were really trying to sell the fiction that this was all inadvertant sloppiness, they'd be pointing to the disparate variety of documents he took.
In fact, Berger's own actions seem centered on drawing attention to that report and only that report. That's where he draws the least jail time. More more importantly, he's the only one who does.
IMHO, Berger took care of his primary mission in the very first visit, and it wasn't the Millenium Report. All of his subsequent action was meant to ensure no one would know what he was really after---material, that if known, would draw far more serious charges than document mishandling. And not just for Berger.
Sorry, the facts are not with you on this one. The undeniable fact is that he committed a crime on multiple occasions. No one disputes this fact. His defense has been one of motive. However, the cold hard fact is that he committed a crime on multiple occasions and he will probably be doing jail time.
He has already confessed. Therefore one would think they have cold-hard evidence.
Excellent deconstruction. Sure makes sense to me.
Do Pukin Dogs poop in their Tomcats?
Listen, I took a lot of heat for telling you folks about the video when the media said otherwise. Sandy Berger is on film, and that is why he confessed. Someday, Howlin might just take my word for it?
Do Pukin Dogs poop in their Tomcats?
Listen, I took a lot of heat for telling you folks about the video when the media said otherwise. Sandy Berger is on film, and that is why he confessed. Someday, Howlin might just take my word for it?"
I have no doubt that the investigation has the goods on Sandy the Burglar, he would not have admitted it if there was not evidence.
So was the document theft to cover himself or bjclinton or Hillry?????
"No comment on that. You will know soon enough."
A timing thing, ey!!!!!
There are cameras all over the place, except for were Berger was huh??
What room are they talking about .. The Bathroom???
Sorry .. I'm not buying this story about no tape
Until the Nixon days, all Presidential papers were considered the personal property of the President (precedent established by Geo. Washington).
Currently, Presidential papers are considered the property opf the National Archives. Presidential papers are closed for 5 years after a President leaves office.
Currently, all Clinton papers are under the purview of the Clinton Presidential Materials Project in Little Rock (which is part of NA). Classified documents and some types of personal documents remain directly under the purview or control of the President for 12 years after leaving office.
So Bill Clinton has direct authority over classified documents (although they're in the custody of the NA).
I think we are going to find that several people at the NA bent the rules for Berger at the personal request of Bill.
I don't think that's quite true, but not because I'm by any stretch a Clinton defender.
It actually looks as if NA went by the book. But in making their first call to Lindsey (as descibed on the initial reporting of this scandal), it becomes clear that at least he and probably Bill Clinton had first and last say-so in granting the clearance waiver to Berger.
And I'll betcha the Clinton Crowd are scared of that one
All you need is one person to bring them down
Will Sandy be the one??
Thank you for the explanation.
I suppose Clinton probably sent Berger for the ostensible purpose of preparing material for his (Clinton's) testimony to the 9/11 Commission.
However, I still find it hard to believe that the guards (or "monitors") would have permitted such blatant violations of procedure unless they had been told to do so by a superior. I suppose it's possible that this was a personal inspiration of that superior, and not at the request of Clinton himself. But anytime Bill Clinton surfaces, one always has to wonder...
You may be correct, but this we'll probably never know.
I've reviewed the Archives procedures on their Web site. When you're in the reading room, they deliver a "stack" of documents (apparently a file box of materials). They don't deliver one-by-one.
And they've admitted they don't know what he took that first day.
Not possible as long as there are missing documents.
Don't hold out on us. Your sources are too good. I promise not to give you any sh*t anymore. :o)
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