Posted on 04/22/2006 4:22:36 AM PDT by pookie18
McCarthy served as assistant to Clinton, senior director for intelligence programs
WASHINGTON – A CIA officer fired for leaking classified information was appointed as special assistant to President Clinton and senior director for intelligence programs by former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, who pleaded guilty to stealing highly classified documents.
Mary McCarthy
Mary O'Neil McCarthy was fired Thursday for reportedly leaking classified information that contributed to a Washington Post report about alleged secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.
She most recently worked for the CIA inspector general's office and served as a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Public records show McCarthy, a veteran CIA officer, had served as a special assistant to Clinton and, later, President Bush – a tenure that stretched from 1998 to 2001. She testified to the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks.
The CIA acknowledged the dismissal of an officer over a media leak is extremely rare. It resulted from a 3-month investigation.
The Washington Post report in November about secret CIA prisons for terrorism suspects prompted an international controversy over U.S. detainee policies and also won a Pulitzer Prize.
The CIA would not say what the leak involved, and declined to identify the officer or describe the officer's duties at the agency, saying that such disclosures would violate the Privacy Act of 1974.
"This CIA officer acknowledged having unauthorized discussions with the media in which the officer knowingly shared classified intelligence, including operational information," CIA spokeswoman Michele Neff said.
Neff said the officer's actions violated a secrecy agreement that CIA employees sign when they begin working for the agency.
The Washington Post reported that the CIA operated a network of secret prisons for terrorism suspects in countries overseas, including Eastern Europe. The report spawned a number of investigations in Europe that have yet to produce definitive evidence that the secret prisons existed.
McCarthy succeeded Rand Beers in the job of special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence programs. Ironically, she was named to the position by Berger, who pleaded guilty last fall to stealing classified information from the National Archives while preparing Clinton to testify to the 9-11 commission.
Sandy Berger
Last September, a judge ordered Berger to pay a $50,000 fine for his crime. Berger avoided prison time under the punishment handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson.
In addition to the fine, which exceeded the $10,000 recommended by government lawyers, he was prohibited from access to classified government materials for three years.
"The court finds the fine is inadequate because it doesn't reflect the seriousness of the offense," Robinson said as Berger stood before her.
During the hearing, Berger described his crime as a lapse of judgment.
"I let considerations of personal convenience override clear rules of handling classified material," Berger said. "I believe this lapse, serious as it is, does not reflect the character of myself. In this case, I failed. I will not again."
The stolen documents were copies of highly secret memoranda, possibly with handwritten notes, that allegedly were critical of the Clinton administration's response to the "Millennium 2000" terror plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport.
Berger, who was an adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry when the scandal broke, has held multiple national security jobs since the Carter administration and recently was a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Public records show that McCarthy contributed $2,000 in 2004 to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee.
Berger initially said he took copies of the classified documents regarding terrorism from the National Archives by "accident" and then misplaced them in what he described as an "honest mistake." He later admitted, however, that after pilfering the documents, he destroyed three of the five with scissors at the office of his consulting firm.
"In this case, I got caught. I will not again."
The three years without the security clearance will be up in 2008. Amazing!!
Or is he already working for Hillary...pro bono of course!!
Don't you get it? "Republicans" will let everyone in national politics walk. It's payback for impeaching Clinton.
The President can declassify information by simply stating something in a press conference. He does not have to ask permission from anyone. He can also put out disinformation to an enemy. He can delegate a leak without permission.
I share much of your frustration, but remember this woman got fired for leaking - an admittedly rare occurence. I think GW's main problem (leaving illegal aliens and rampant spending aside) is that he does not trumpet his successes and leaves even the well-informed among us with the impression that there are no successes. If he were half as good as clinton at blowing his own horn, his popularity ratings would be high. ...for what it's worth.
You whine like a three year old because the President doesn't kiss your ass and do all you demand when you demand it.
You forget there are others involved with opinions as strong as yours. The President obviously doesn't support your radical ideas about the illeagals.
It should be obvious that your view of tossing out all the illlegals is not popular and will not prevail. There will be a solution to the border security issue and a corresponding guest worker program. The details are in process of determination.
Regarding anger, it is inappropriate. To assume all problems can be solved on your time schedule is ludircrous. Develop a little patience and relax and enjoy the process.
I have posted the quote many times......"at a time and place of my choosing" W
When, pray tell, is someone going to actually go to JAIL for this crap?
You know that every sleazoid mexican is a sure vote for the DEMONcrats. This country is quickly decaying into a third world welfare haven and we're the guys who'll pay for it!
You can hear Goss singing:
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary...How do your loyalties flow?"
Your garden seems weedy. Your calls seem seedy.
Pretty soon we'll know".
I'm starting to think about the judge from NSA?? that resigned (without explanation) when Rockefeller pulled his two year old letter to Cheney out of a safe.
Try 2100.
I think it was a FISA Judge... his name was Robinson(?). Big 'stinkin lib.
2100, actually, stored in a database called WHoDB. Hopefully some genious freeper hacker 16 year old will find it and crack it.
"How did the GOP let this one get away...."
It's almost as if they didn't want him caught or Clinton damaged. After all, Bill is Poppy Bush's new son.
Thanks for your reply. I now have my ANSWER!
LLS
When the judges aren't Dems and the jury isn't in an all Dem district!!!! Fitz vs Libby is a good example.
Thanks...FISA....somehow these agencies are connected and I believe under NSA...but it's still early and my mind is pretty blank.
***Bush is a damned eunuch and he is wrong as rain about illegal immigration.
I am sorry as hell I ever voted for the weenie bastard.***
I realize that voting records are sealed. In your case, that's just too bad.
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