Posted on 12/20/2006 2:12:49 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
Former national security adviser Sandy Berger removed classified documents from the National Archives in 2003 and hid them under a construction trailer, the Archives inspector general reported Wednesday. The report was issued more than a year after Berger pleaded guilty and received a criminal sentence for removal of the documents.
Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he said it was possible he threw them in his office trash.
The report said that when Archives employees first suspected that Berger _ who had been President Clinton's national security adviser _ was removing classified documents from the Archives in the fall of they failed to notify any law enforcement agency.
Berger, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents, was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and was barred from access to classified material for three years.
The report said that when Berger was reviewing the classified documents in the Archives building a few blocks from the Capitol, employees saw him bending down and fiddling with something white, which could have been paper, around his ankle.
However, Archives employees did not feel at the time there was enough information to confront someone of Berger's stature, the report said.
Brachfeld reported that on one visit, Berger took a break to go outside without an escort.
"In total, during this visit, he removed four documents ... .
"Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)."
Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.
Berger, with the authorization of former President Clinton, was reviewing National Security Council documents on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, Sudan, and related presidential correspondence. The review was to facilitate Berger's impending testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees.
[Remember the FAA managers destroying tapes of the conversations with 9-11 pilots?
I bet you were very outraged about that.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A6632-2004May6
Unbelievable. Have the FAA employees ever been identified by name? What happened to these two employees who destroyed the evidence? Have the air traffic controllers been thoroughly interviewed about their accounts? Did the Air Traffic Controllers official accounts of 911 differ three weeks later from the original taped interview? The article is a little unclear, but it looks like there was something nefarious about the way this evidence was destroyed and these FAA employee's motivations.
According to the article, this investigation was initiated by John McCain, good for him.
George W. Bush has steadfastly refused to prosecute any of the Clinton Criminal Gang. I see no reason to expect anything different now.
they moved us to this thread.
the scandal is not what Berger did with the documents - that's a 2 day story at most.
the scandal is (would be) - what was in them? if we could see those notes, the after action report for the millenium bombing plot, we'd likely find out exactly who knew what about AQ inside the US before 9/11, and who did nothing about it. THAT STORY, would have major legs.
Obviously, that IS the stroy, but it obviously somebody is dropping bread crumbs to lead us there. The questions of the day are WHO and WHY?
but can we get there? the documents with the specific notes, are gone?
a couple months back, OReilly did an interview of Ashcroft when his book was released. Bill asked Ashcroft about Berger, and he said rather non-chalantly - that the documents were the after action report for the millenium bombing. freeper "ravingnutter" had some good posts pieceing together what the contents may have been.
If Hillary Clinton is elected in 2008 I will probably leave FR and will have to leave politics to you younger turks. I cannot believe this country has sunk to such a low. It makes me sick. SICK.
I don't know about that part of the story.
Guess what?
....all of our laws are subjective.
Yes. The powerful protect the powerful, so that they all can remain ...powerful. I don't know any other way to explain it.
WHY would anyone put those classified papers that were SO IMPORTANT to the Clintonoids put them Under a construction TRAILER??? Sounds like a DROP!!!! Alger Hiss and the pumpkin comes to mind!!
" the scandal is (would be) - what was in them? "
The scandal is why did the Gonzales Justice Department give Berger a wrist slap ?
Why was Berger only charged with a misdemeanor ?
Why did Noel Hillman, head of the USDOJ Public Integrity Division negotiate Berger's crime down to a misdemeanor, instead of a felony ?
Why did Hillman tell the WSJ on April 8, 2005 " The Berger File " that any reports that Berger stole documents with handwritten notes
were " an urban myth " and laughable. "
Hillman told the WSJ that only copies had been taken, the originals still existed. No harm, no foul.
Yesterday's government report says otherwise- that the Archives
"would never know what if any original documents were missing."
Why did Hillman only ask for such a lenient slap on the wrist when the federal sentencing guidelines on the " misdemeanor " called for a year in prison and a $ 100,000 fine ?
Why did Federal Magistrate Deborah Robinson increase Berger's fine to $50,000-
way above the $ 5,000 asked for by federal prosecutor Noel Hillman ?
"The court finds the fine [recommended by government prosecutors] is inadequate because it doesn't reflect the seriousness of the offense."
Why did Deputy Attorney General Deputy Attorney General James Comey, say this after the Berger story broke :
"We take issues of classified information very, very seriously,"
"All felonies in the federal system bring with them the promise of jail time,.."
Did Noel Hillman sugarcoat the case for Gonzales ?
Or did Gonzales order Hillman to go easy on Berger ?
Noel Hillman was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Bush last January, with the blessings of Frank Lautenberg, John Corzine and Robert Menendez.
He was confirmed by the Senate last June.
I can't find the report I'm looking for but will keep searching.
This one from August 2004 does mention his use of the phone after dismissing the security guards who were observing his actions.
snip
"Apparently, Mr. Berger not only reviewed the secret files, he allegedly stole and destroyed a large number of them on two separate occasions. The first time, he robbed the National Archives by ordering the guards who were monitoring him to leave him alone with classified documents, while he made "sensitive" phone calls. "
snip.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1202361/posts
Hey noob....are you spamming everyone else's freepmail with that arguement and link like did mine???
Hi friend....I went to your ping...on the other thread and it was locked.
Did the article in this thread have what was on Brit's show about him being seen tearing up some of the documents??
The real problem seems to be far too many with access to classified info and/or staffers given classified info with no need to know getting access to said. I believe we had SOG teams and hatchet forces cut to ribbons on the LZ or immediate vicinity due to leaks of the same classification that Berger got a mere slap on the wrist for.
I'm betting that Clinton bought off terrorists to assure national security during the Millennium. It was no coincidence that Clinton was no longer President when 9-11 happened. I think that Osama's name is in that file and that this is what they are trying to hide.
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