Bill Clinton authorized Sandy Berger's access

WorldNetDaily ^ | January 4, 2007 | By Chelsea Schilling

[Jim Robinson]

Investigation into pilfered documents reveals former president signed letter

President Bill Clinton signed a letter authorizing former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger's access to classified documents that later came up missing, according to a newly released investigation report by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The sensitive drafts of the National Security Council's "Millennium After Action Review" on the Clinton administration's handling of the al-Qaida terror threats in December 1999 suspiciously disappeared after Berger said he intended to "determine if Executive Privilege needed to be exerted prior to documents being provided to the 9/11 Commission." Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft testified before the 9-11 commission about the millennium report, urging the panel to ask why the document's warnings and "blueprint" to thwart al-Qaida's plans to target the U.S. were ignored by the Clinton administration and not shared with the incoming Bush security staff.

The NARA investigation report said Clinton signed an April 12, 2002, letter designating Berger – and another person whose named is redacted – as "agents on his behalf to review relevant NSC documents regarding Osama Bin Laden/Al Qaeda, Sudan and Presidential correspondence from or to (Sudanese President) Omar Bashir, contained in the Clinton Presidential records." A subsequent letter from a National Security Council official, May 14, 2002, said Berger repeatedly was briefed that "he was not allowed to remove any documentation from NARA."

Last year, Berger plea bargained a criminal sentence on the charge of unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents. A judge gave him no prison time, a $50,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and a ban from access to classified material for three years

According to the NARA report, after the 9-11 attacks, Clinton administration officials were swamped with calls regarding their handling of terrorist threats, and Berger soon realized he would have to testify. Berger said he put in over 100 unpaid hours of his time to be responsive.

The former White House adviser said the documents up for review were so numerous that he was unable to reconstruct them from memory, so he took 10-to-12 pages of notes and hid them in the pocket of his blazer.

The investigation report says, however, the May 14, 2002, letter stated "notes may be taken but must be retained by NARA staff and forwarded to the NSC for a classification review and appropriate marking. Berger, the letter said, "was made aware of this requirement."

In July 2003, Berger's handling of the papers began to "cause archival concerns in maintaining provenance" after he asked to leave the viewing office several times to hold very private phone calls. Later, in September, Berger once again stepped out of the office and headed for the men's room, but personnel reported an unknown white object beneath his pant leg.

A witness said Berger "bent down, fiddling with something white, which could have been papers, around his ankle."

After Berger's actions aroused suspicion in September 2003, an unnamed archives official hand-numbered drafts provided to Berger as a means of controlling the documents without consulting with NARA general counsel, security, management, the Office of the Inspector General or law enforcement.

In October, Berger returned to the archives office and was given one file folder of documents at a time. The NARA report indicates an e-mail numbered 217 came up missing after he reviewed it. Berger later said he slid the document under his portfolio.

When personnel noticed it was missing, they offered a copy of document 217 to Berger, and he reportedly slid the second file under his portfolio as well. Later, Berger said if he had been asked to return the file "it would have triggered a decision for him to give the documents back."

Instead, Berger said he had to make a private phone call and went to a desk outside the office. However, the phone line remained unlit, and he quickly departed to the restroom, a location from which he was reported to have recently returned.

Berger made numerous suspicious visits to the men's room in which personnel were concerned he might be hiding documents. He said he "went to the restroom on an average of every 30 minutes to one hour to use the facilities and stretch his legs."

According to the NARA report, Berger claimed he accidentally took the files outside of the archives building and didn't want to risk bringing documents back because personnel might notice something unusual. Instead, he took the files to a fenced construction area on Ninth Street, slid them under a trailer and returned to the office to finish his review. After doing so, he returned to the site, reclaimed the documents and took them to his office.

During the visit, Berger is reported to have hidden four documents in his pockets, all versions of the Millennium Alert After Action Review.

Archives officials decided to call Berger and ask him for the documents. He said he didn't think he had any files. They advised him NARA was treating the matter as a security infraction and was going to report the incident to the National Security Council. If Berger admitted to taking the documents by mistake, the incident would be reported as inadvertent removal. But, he maintained that staff members were in error, and he had given the files back to an assistant.

Later that evening, Berger claimed to have found two documents, and NARA made arrangements to pick up the files the following morning. However, NARA reports the documents were an e-mail and a facsimile Berger reviewed Sept. 2, 2003, not classified files viewed Oct. 2, 2003.

Berger said he could not find any additional documents and claimed he must have thrown them away. According to the NARA report, "He had destroyed, cut into small pieces, three of the four documents. These were put in the trash. By Saturday, the trash had been picked up. He tried to find the trash collector but had no luck."

The inspector general was briefed on the incidents Oct. 10. That day, OI investigators recovered documents from Berger's home at the request of his attorney. Six months later, the Department of Justice notified the 9/11 commission.

Berger said if someone had always been with him, he would not have taken any documents.

Despite his April 1, 2005, guilty plea for Unauthorized Removal and Retention of Classified Material, Berger still vehemently denies smuggling any documents in his socks. According to the report, he said he was adjusting them "because his shoes frequently come untied and his socks frequently fall down."

[lainie]

That Slick signed the access shouldn't surprise anyone (and, didn't we already know this? why does it seem like I did?), but it's great to see that so many other people are as PISSED OFF as we are about this, that they just won't let it go. The regular alphabet & dead tree media sure aren't going to pursue it.

Some thoughts -- 1. the redacted name is extremely interesting. 2. who redacted it and why. I remain ticked off that the current administration gave Sandy a slap on the wrist, and now, what's THIS covered-up info mean?

[Pagey]

Berger said if someone had always been with him, he would not have taken any documents.

This is something a 3rd grader says when he gets caught. Of course, if someone had been with him at all times, he couldn't have stolen them. The audacity of this guy is beyond all comprehension. This (excuse for a) man was the National Security Advisor for the USA under Bill Clinton. Historical BUMP!

[CottShop]

Aint it beyond sickening how much crap the left gets away with? We should be prosecuting these maggots- but the problem is that noone dares to for fear of having a contract put out on their lives by our mafia leftist party! http://sacredscoop.com

[OB1kNOb]

Bookmark for reference next time certain yahoos make their typical World Nut Daily comments. Doesn't appear they'll show up to comment on this thread. -- OB1

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

Who wooda thunk it. And I thought Clinton was just this squeaky clean fella. Just goes to show we learn something new everyday!

[Mo1]

Follow the money

[Grampa Dave]

It is very obvious that the elite rats in politics and the MSM don't want to follow the money. Those flows might end up in War Crime Charges in an Iraqi court in the future.

[Sacajaweau]

Name redacted for security purposes. That makes it someone higher than Berger. Definitely a Dem though.

[Sacajaweau]

Howlin....I agree. Someone closer to Hillary than Bill.

[FourtySeven]

EXCELLENT! I can hardly wait to hear this reported on the news tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Enchante]

"My liberal friends respond to my questions about this with sullen silence"

"Sullen silence" perfectly describes how the MSM reacts to all stories they don't want to cover.... this should have been the "Watergate" of the 21st century, a former top national security official breaking the law repeatedly to hide and destroy some of our most sensitive documents, obstructing the work of the 9/11 Commission when he was tasked to ENABLE that vitally important work, etc. etc.

[AmeriBrit]

Self 'ping'.

[TigersEye]

The Clinton era coverup continues with the complicity of the Bush administration.

BLOAT

[TigersEye]

"Later, Berger said if he had been asked to return the file 'it would have triggered a decision for him to give the documents back.'" ***

"Berger said if someone had always been with him, he would not have taken any documents."

DLN: I hadn't realized we were dealing with a child until I read these comments.

Another poster said almost the same thing you did. My first thought in reading through it was of childhood and that if I had given my father a bunch of excuses like that for stealing and lying he would have beaten me senseless. Dad was not big on corporal punishment either but a litany of lame excuses like Berger's would have made him livid. Yet here we have an adult with national security clearances breaking federal laws and putting every American in danger and he gets the equivalent of "no TV or cookies for the next two weeks."

I'll tell you what; I will not sacrifice any of my liberties to help this government's phoney baloney national security initiatives. Symbolism over substance isn't going to prevent the next attack.

[TigersEye]

.... this should have been the "Watergate" of the 21st century, a former top national security official breaking the law repeatedly to hide and destroy some of our most sensitive documents, obstructing the work of the 9/11 Commission when he was tasked to ENABLE that vitally important work, etc. etc.

Watergate (stealing campaign documents from an opposing Party's candidate) is little more than a high school prank compared to this. The almost complete lack of reaction to this should very clearly indicate how little the rule of law or national security mean to the MSM or in the halls of Congress. Both aisles.

[Enchante]

"Watergate (stealing campaign documents from an opposing Party's candidate) is little more than a high school prank compared to this. The almost complete lack of reaction to this should very clearly indicate how little the rule of law or national security mean to the MSM or in the halls of Congress. Both aisles."

I quite agree! I only meant the Watergate comparison to say that the media and Congress should have been going into similar paroxysms of outrage and investigatory zeal these past few years.... that is not to say that the misdeeds referred to as "Watergate" even begin to approach the level of depravity, recklessness, and endangerment of our national security that Sandy Burglar and the Clintonistas represent.

[tsmith130]

Later, Berger said if he had been asked to return the file "it would have triggered a decision for him to give the documents back."

WTH does that mean?

[kcvl]

I'll play: Bruce Lindsey.

I'll second that!

[kcvl]

Officials said Archive staff specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others disappeared, Archive officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey.


snip


However, some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of Al Qaeda terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing, officials and lawyers said. Officials said the missing documents also identified America's terror vulnerabilities at airports to seaports.


http://tinyurl.com/y54eaz


"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement.


snip

In the FBI search of his office, Berger also was found in possession of a small number of classified note cards containing his handwritten notes from the Middle East peace talks during the 1990s, but those are not a focal point of the current criminal probe, according to officials and lawyers.

Breuer said the Archives staff first raised concerns with Berger during an Oct. 2 review of documents that at least one copy of the post-millennium report he had reviewed earlier was missing. Berger was given a second copy that day, Breuer said.