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.
There's a good analysis of this angle at RightWingNutHouse
CIA VS. THE WHITE HOUSE: THE LEAKER AND THE SQUEALER
And more discussion based on that at Captain's Quarters
And AJ Strata has some good stuff, as well
CIA Leaker Leaked Multiple Times
I love this particular bit of speculation from that site:
This could mean she was implicated in other stories hitting the media. It seems at times a group of roque agents have been planting stories in the media to attempt to get Democrats elected. If Mary McCarthy is deep into this supposed group, she could be turned so dominos start falling one after the other.
Hat Tip to Captain's Quarters where I first saw these
Y'think? I think it gets rewritten every ten years or so, whenever a new set of textbooks comes out, and the revisions routinely lean toward a watering down of the facts in favor of PC opinionation. That's why even college students today don't know which war General Cornwallis fought in, or who beat him--just to give a small example.
Are you certain about that when it comes to government employees?
I would like to see what the rules are because many government employees who get fired for the worst offenses still get their pensions and benefits.
Looks like a big DUH if Berger is working for Hillary in any way...and I'm sure he is.
Depends upon whether or not she was invested in the plan. You'd have to look up the federal gov't retirement and read it.
Intelligence officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the dismissed officer identified by others as McCarthy has not been charged with any crime and is not believed to be the subject of a Justice Department investigation.
And from the New York Times article on this subject:
Lawyers at the Justice Department were notified of Ms. McCarthy's dismissal, but no new referral was issued, law enforcement officials said. They said that they would review the case, but that her termination could mean she would be spared criminal prosecution.
Duuugh.. Who was Sandy working for?.. in what capacity?.. What was to be gained by this deed?.. Who was to gain?,,,
A whole range of questions were never asked, and will not be asked.. National Security is a joke... AND the Mexican Border is STILL WIDE OPEN with multi millions of propective democrats and a few RINOS surgeing across the border..
South Park is a serious TV program compared to National Security.. Sandy Burgular is the tip of a Slimeberg.. You or I, you know, would be in Levenworth for the better part of the rest of our lives for the same crime.. 2006 and 2008 await.. And the great unwashed and washed too are getting restless.. I'm ready to grab my pitchfork and torch..
speaking on anonymity... If she committed an illegal act, they are looking at her.
Please read post #124 and you'll understand why I got a real case of the ass.
One would think! Thanks.
In this case, I failed. I will not again."... You'll never catch me the next time.
.........I think it gets rewritten every ten years or so....
First a digression. Recently a flock of 40 or more migrating buzzards gathered every evening in a patch of woods and partially wooded residential lots across the street. This is the second or third year and the number seems to increase each March. I guess they are up your way by now. The mass of great birds soaring over my house and the surrounding half mile is pretty spectacular.
Regarding History, there is some revision but what was written before doesn't disappear. My previous point was that events don't happen all at once. Change is inexorable and favorble change requires some patience.
Don't be THAT sorry...the OTHER "WB" was waaaaay worse AND a traitor to this country. You did good. ;-)
Just wondering what perks Mary received other than the satisfaction of sticking it to the US.
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