Posted on 03/31/2005 8:22:45 PM PST by conservative in nyc
Samuel R."Sandy" Berger, a former White House national security adviser, plans to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, and will acknowledge intentionally removing and destroying copies of a classified document about the Clinton administration's record on terrorism.
Berger's plea agreement, which was described yesterday by his advisers and was confirmed by Justice Department officials, will have one of former president Bill Clinton's most influential advisers and one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign policy advisers in a federal court this afternoon.
The deal's terms make clear that Berger spoke falsely last summer in public claims that in 2003 he twice inadvertently walked off with copies of a classified document during visits to the National Archives, then later lost them.
He described the episode last summer as "an honest mistake." Yesterday, a Berger associate who declined to be identified by name but was speaking with Berger's permission said: "He recognizes what he did was wrong... It was not inadvertent."
Under terms negotiated by Berger's attorneys and the Justice Department, he has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and accept a three-year suspension of his national security clearance. These terms must be accepted by a judge before they are final, but Berger's associates said yesterday he believes that closure is near on what has been an embarrassing episode during which he repeatedly misled people about what happened during two visits to the National Archives in September and October 2003.
--Snip--
The terms of Berger's agreement required him to acknowledge to the Justice Department the circumstances of the episode. Rather than misplacing or unintentionally throwing away three of the five copies he took from the archives, as the former national security adviser earlier maintained, he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Something's not quite right here -- what was he looking for if he shreaded the similar copies? There must have been something incriminating in the document he didn't shred.
Looks like the whole thing is a "slap on the wrist".
WTH?
No kidding.
This guy should have done some time.
So much for the serious state of National Security.
This moron should be imprisoned.
The ironic thing about this episode, is that it was completely unnecessary. The 9-11 commission and the media gave Clintonistas a complete pass, despite the fact that these idiots are probably more responsible for 9-11 (by passing on Bin Laden) than anyone else on the planet (except the actual hijackers, of course).
-R
What a bunch of pieces of crap we have governing us.
All he gets is a misdemeanor plea!!!!!
If I'd have taken docs from the archives, I'd be "bustin rocks" till my hair falls out!!
If I had done that, I'd be sitting in prison. The political elite live by different rules.
Only a 3 year suspension? The injustice of it all.
Just imagine the torture those papers went through from him stuffing them down his pants. The image of it has me terrified. :-)
Why should he get his security clearance back after three years? Does everyone maintain their clearance after they are not working in an official capacity anymore?
Well the little prick was caught stuffing the papers down his pants. He should plead friggin' guilty.
Outrageous. Compare the seriousness of his crimes to Ebbers, Stewart, Lay, Kozlowski and the time they have/are/will serve. Berger should be put away for a few years as a message to others in govt. What a double standard.
Another travesty of justice.
If he was a Pubbie the RATS would NEVER accept anything without some jail time. And the DOJ would fall on it's knees to please them.
BTTT
Another travesty of justice.
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