Posted on 04/06/2005 10:02:11 AM PDT by Zivasmate
Berger gets off too easily in review caper April 6, 2005
OK, so former national security adviser Sandy Berger didn't stuff classified documents in his socks to smuggle them out of the National Archives. But he did admit to stealing them twice (crammed them down his pants and in his coat), destroying some of them, and then lying about what he'd done.
In addition to news media's big yawn, what's galling about Berger's intentional misconduct were the wrist-slap terms of his plea bargain, as confirmed by the Justice Department this week. By law, former President Bill Clinton's most influential adviser and one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign policy experts could have been sentenced to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Instead, he got off easily with a $10,000 fine, no jail time and the loss of his security clearance for just three years. Which means he'll reclaim his security clearance in time for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.
More to the point are the documents Berger pilfered in preparation for testifying before the 9/11 Commission. They included a detailed "after-action" review of the Clinton administration's response to al-Qaida threats written by counterterrorism guru Richard Clarke. According to the commission, Berger had objected to at least four proposed attacks on al-Qaida between 1998 and 2000. It made note of Clarke's report, saying that in the margin next to a proposal to attack al-Qaida facilities before the week of Jan. 1, 2000, Berger wrote "no."
Berger told the commission Clarke's review had prompted a strong White House response to al-Qaida threats. But in his testimony, former attorney general John Ashcroft said he had read the review and it indicated no action had been taken by the Clinton administration.
Sounds like a cover-up to us. But the only way to dispel that notion would be for the Justice Department to release Clarke's review.
Richard Clarke's silence on this matter doesn't surprise anyone, does it?
The only question remaining is: did Berger put the documents in his underwear in case they got wet if he got caught, so he could wipe them dry?
If you or I pilfered these documents, we would be in the hoosegow, that's for sure.
The Wall Street Journal actually defends the deal today, but they are basically taking the prosecutors and Berger at his word that he took them home because he wanted to work from home, and then shredded them when he realize he couldn't get them back in and didn't want to be caught.
Is that a pile of classified documents in your pants or are you just glad to see me?
But wait! If they were copies then they should have been completely identical; his admission that they were "largely identical" means there were some differences between them - such as handwritten notes in the margins, that could have been incriminating to members of the Clinton administration.
He was housecleaning.
Good ole Sandy Burgular....
You remember the Clintonistas' modus operandi;
The non-denial denial.
Even worse, his security clearance has only been suspended for a short period of time.
Sandy Scissorhands.
What's gotten into the Wall St.Journal since Bartley passed on?
If the documents were all crumpled up, it may not have meant that he was glad to see her. If they were thinly folded, well, that might be another story. LOL
Till, G-d forbid, Her Majesty, appoints him a national security adviser.
Paul Gigot, Mark Shields' former doormat on the MacNeil-Leher Report.
He should be sent down to the principal's office and expelled... You can't cheat for an upcoming exam!
"He should be sent down to the principal's office and expelled... You can't cheat for an upcoming exam!"
Does "expulsion" mean Ron Brown or Web Hubbell?
I'd still be in jail if I'd done what he did.
"I'd still be in jail if I'd done what he did."
Depending on who the judge is, and if he was picked by your former (and possibly future) boss.
Sandy Berger belongs at the end of a rope. I couldn't get a day off work with excuses as lame as the ones he's given.
Expulsion means going home... But he'll probably try to get a note from dad to explain his behaviour.
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