Sandy Berger Speaks

Power Line ^ | 3/16/07 | John Hinderaker

[conservative in nyc]

Sandy Berger sent an email to Michael Barone, responding to Michael's column in U.S. News. As we have written extensively on the Berger affair and have been harshly critical of Berger, it seems only fair to reproduce Berger's email in full, as it constitutes his response to his critics. Here it is:

Michael: I screwed up. There was nothing sinister about it. I was under serious pressure to digest the entire Clinton record on terrorism for eight years so that we could testify fully to the 9-11 commission. I spent several arduous days at the Archives looking through the files. This document was interesting to me because I had commissioned it in 2000–a look at what we learned from the millennium terror threats that were avoided. Tired, stressed, I made a very stupid decision–to take the documents home with me so that I could review them in more detail and so that I could compare the apparent differences among versions. Since this document had been widely circulated to all the relevant agencies (State, Defense, CIA, Justice, etc.), I felt certain the commission would get it from one or more of these agencies.

There were no handwritten markings on the documents (which were copies) or anything else unusual. I took no other documents–originals or copies–besides the ones specified in my plea agreement.

The DOJ has stated unequivocally that there is no evidence that I took other documents and that the commission received everything.

That's the long and short of it. I made a very stupid mistake. I deeply regret it. Top-level career Justice Department prosecutors investigated it aggressively for two years. We reached a plea agreement that they believed was fair. That was two years ago. Now I wish this thing would go away.

Best, Sandy

I don't buy it. Berger didn't make an impulsive decision--"tired, stressed"--to smuggle documents out of the National Archives. He stole documents on multiple occasions. On one occasion, he sneaked them out of the archives, went to a nearby construction site and hid the documents under a construction trailer, so he could come back later and pick them up. I simply don't believe that Berger engaged in this kind of cloak and dagger behavior just because he found the documents "interesting" and wanted to study them at home.

Most of all, I don't see how Berger's explanation can be reconciled with his own admission that he didn't just take the documents home; he cut some of them to pieces with a pair of scissors. Why did he destroy the documents if he wasn't trying to prevent them from coming to light?

Nor am I impressed by Berger's claim that the Department of Justice "has stated unequivocally that there is no evidence that I took other documents and that the commission received everything." There is no evidence as to what documents Berger took because the Archives staff let him walk off with them and didn't try to monitor what he was doing until it was too late. That being the case, the only evidence as to what documents were taken is Berger's own confession.

[freedomfiter2]

Two yrs later and still he has yet to take the test. He has no intention of ever taking a polygraph, and since the DOJ is letting him slide, he never will.


Sure, but we're all supposed to rally around Gonzales.

[popdonnelly]

Yeah, he screwed up. He got caught. Clintonistas aren't supposed to get caught.

[tsali]

Sandy---- If you will steal you will lie-- So why should you be believed---

When one commits a felony, can he just say, "I was tired and I made a mistahe"?

Can one imagine Duke Cunningham or John Trafficant saying "I was just tired and made a mistsake"--- would that have kept them out of prison ? Of course not---- It seems that all one has to be is a Liberal then you are judged under different laws---just look at "cool Cash" Jefferson.

[coloradan]

Lies. "I did not have sex with that woman." .... "There was nothing sinister about it ... there were no handwritten notes ... "

[vietvet67]

Is he a victim yet? geeze.

[freedom4me]

Uh huh. I'm sure Scooter Libby wishes his issue would go away, too.

[EGPWS]

I made a very stupid mistake. I deeply regret it.

It's true!

I just witnessed it with my own eyes.

Pigs CAN fly!!!!

[EGPWS]

Uh huh. I'm sure Scooter Libby wishes his issue would go away, too.

Yea, and that mockery of justice is leading Scooter to face up to 25 years.

He should have actually broken a law and in a big fashion to boot for then he would have been fines $50,000 and had his fingers slapped.

[aculeus]

Bump for Powerline's comments on Burglar's BS.

[oh8eleven]

Now I wish this thing would go away.

[windchime]

BURGLAR BUMP!

[OrioleFan]

The stress came from knowing what was in the documents. If Libby gets 30 years for not committing a crime, this guy should hang.

[RckyRaCoCo]

if he were a republican he would be in jail and bush would have been impeached....nay, no media bias, nope...none at all.

Now lets all forget this garbage and get back to serious matters like the outing of poor valerie plame /s

jelly-spined rep. representatives better grow a pair or as a party they will be extinct

[Dad yer funny]

bookmark ping , .. and THANKS conservative in nyc

[ken21]

god! i cannot face another 8 years of clinton-pukes!

[Halgr]

I hope the Justice Department goes after Sandy....but alas I have other dreams too.

[JayAr36]

Sandy speaks, "ARF, ARF." And Annie says that is the extent of his intelligence.

[montag813]

If Sandy Berger was an ex-FDR top aide, and had done this with the Pearl Harbor Commission in 1946, it would have been considered the single worst act of teason since Benedict Arnold, and he would surely have been sent to the electric chair.

It is a measure of the Clintonista agents who remain within the DoJ and FBI that he received a mere 100 hours of community service, and will regain his security clearances about the time Madame Hillary may take office (Jan 2009, what a coincidence). And it is a measure of the total incompetence of President Bush and Alberto Gonzales that these traitors have been left in place and permitted to operate as enemies within.

[Plains Drifter]

2 plus 2 equals 5 is a mistake.

Stuffing stolen government documents down your pants, cutting them up, hiding them under a trailer is not a mistake.

[chimera]

Unbelievable. This sounds like something a kid would say, "Aw, gee, I'm sorry, I was tired and my hand just happened to slip into that cookie jar and my fingers just happened to close around those cookies, because I was tired and wasn't looking and I screwed up...", blah blah blah. And he expects real people, grown-ups, to buy this nonsense? That's what's really insulting about this stupid idiot. It's bad enough he commits a federal crime and gets away with it, but then to get away with this kind of lame excuse is just adding insult to injury.

You know, when I was in grad school, there were plenty of times, late in the evening in the library when I was studying papers and documents that were marked "Use In Library Only" that I wished I could have snuck out and taken home. But I didn't. I respected the rule (law). Those weren't my documents to do with as I pleased. So I came back the next day, rested and ready to go, and resumed my work. If an ordinary slob like me can follow the rules, why can't Burglar? Oh, I forgot, he's a Clintonista 'Rat, rules don't apply to him. Rotten scum, the lot of them.