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Archives Staff Was Suspicious of Berger
Washington Post ^ | July 22, 2004 | John F. Harris and Susan Schmidt

Posted on 07/21/2004 9:25:10 PM PDT by Remember_Salamis

Last Oct. 2, former Clinton national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger stayed huddled over papers at the National Archives until 8 p.m.

What he did not know as he labored through that long Thursday was that the same Archives employees who were solicitously retrieving documents for him were also watching their important visitor with a suspicious eye.

After Berger's previous visit, in September, Archives officials believed documents were missing. This time, they specially coded the papers to more easily tell whether some went missing, said government officials and legal sources familiar with the case.

The notion of one of Washington's most respected foreign policy figures being subjected to treatment that had at least a faint odor of a sting operation is a strange one. But the peculiarities -- and conflicting versions of events and possible motives -- were just then beginning in a case that this week bucked Berger out of an esteemed position as a leader of the Democratic government-in-waiting that had assembled around presidential nominee John F. Kerry.

As his attorneys tell it, Berger had no idea in October that documents were missing from the Archives, or that archivists suspected him in the disappearance. It was not until two days later, on Saturday, Oct. 4, that he was contacted by Archives employees who said that they were concerned about missing files, from his September and October visits. This call -- in Berger's version of the chronology, which is disputed in essential respects by a government official with knowledge of the investigation -- was made with a tone of concern, but not accusation.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections; Unclassified; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: berger; johnkerry; kerry; kerryedwards; limberger; loadinhispants; sandy; sandyberger; stinkycheese; toast; trousergate
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To: Izzy Dunne

I think your theory is sound. That action is probably pretty sound procedure.

However, I would guess that the comments would have been rather raucus and foolhearty, making fun of the CIA and/or the FBI .. or even some comments purporting to play headgames with the intel groups.

This group has no respect for convention, sense of duty; they were rude, disrespectful of govt protocol. I believe the notes were damaging in character issues and showed a complete lack of seriousness about national security.


261 posted on 07/22/2004 1:55:30 AM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: America is the Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth)
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To: detch

"Turns out Kerry camp released the info"

How do you know that ..??

As for Kerry's speeches .. Rush was talking about them today. He said that Berger took stuff in Sept and October; Kerry made a speech in December regarding port safety .. the memo Berger took probably had specifics about the lack of port safety and Kerry's speech could have taken advantage of that information .. allowing Kerry the opportunity to form a plan for port safety based on BUSH's LACK OF PROTECTION OF THE PORTS (which was really Richard Clarke's assessment of the Clinton admin's lack of attention to port safety). Kerry's speech could have been based on stolen, classified information which Kerry had no business seeing.

And .. it was Kerry's campaign which refused to attend intel briefings (they were too busy) .. saying they had their own intelligence. Was that intel the stuff Berger was pilfering from the Archives ..??


262 posted on 07/22/2004 2:09:34 AM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: America is the Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth)
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To: Howlin
Re the material from tang-soo you posted -- does anyone know whether there has to be a written request for materials? I know that to request court pleadings to review and/or copy at a courthouse, you have to fill out a slip with your name, firm, contact info, etc., and court pleadings are public records. I can't imagine why the Archives would be less cautious.

On something of a tangent, I recall that someone I knew years ago had occasion to inspect some rare books and manuscripts owned by Harvard University and kept in its facility in the western part of MA. He said he was not allowed to bring anything in, i.e., pens, pencils, etc. and was watched by an armed guard the whole time.

263 posted on 07/22/2004 2:12:39 AM PDT by maryz
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To: Howlin

Is it just me .. or are the dems actually self-destructing as we watch ..??


264 posted on 07/22/2004 2:14:10 AM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: America is the Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth)
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To: Samwise
Didn't Kerry's brother do some sort of Watergate-like break-in for Kerry during one of his early campaigns?

I recall something about it, but not the details. I believe he was running for congress from Lowell -- Marty Meehan's current district. IIRC, the Lowell Sun went after it and there is some indication that it lost Kerry the election.

265 posted on 07/22/2004 2:16:18 AM PDT by maryz
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To: Remember_Salamis

If the staff saw him stealing papers, why didn't they stop him? That is a good question that was asked on O'Reilly last night.

It will soon become a very common question from the Dem attack machine, so we'd better come up with a good answer.


266 posted on 07/22/2004 2:35:03 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army and Supporting Bush/Cheney 2004!)
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To: lunatic12
Very very serious and it's time to stop calling it Trousergate and time to stop joking about the sordid events.

This is a man who committed a serious crime and it should be treated that way.

Joking minimizes the seriousness.

267 posted on 07/22/2004 3:32:30 AM PDT by OldFriend (IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER.......AND SINCE IT'S IN ENGLISH, THANK A SOLDIER)
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To: NCjim

Mark for later...


268 posted on 07/22/2004 3:36:34 AM PDT by NCjim
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To: lunatic12
This behaviour is what we have come to expect from every single member of the previous administration.

There is not a one among them that could be considered honorable or putting the security of their country ahead of personal agenda.

269 posted on 07/22/2004 3:37:48 AM PDT by OldFriend (IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER.......AND SINCE IT'S IN ENGLISH, THANK A SOLDIER)
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To: Izzy Dunne
Here's the best theory I've heard; Someone printed 10 copies of some proposal. The proposal was to actually DO something about the intelligence they had that Bin Laden & co. were trying to cause trouble at the Millenium celebrations (Dec. 2000). The copies were circulated to the higher-ups, Berger, Allbright, Cohen, the usual suspects. They all wrote their notes and reactions on their own copies, which amounted to "this won't go over", "we need to poll this", "Can't support this", etc. So there were 10 copies of the same doc, but with separate notes., Berger didn't want the Commission to see these notes, showing what poll slaves they were. So he pilfered all the copies.

That makes the most sense of any explanation I've heard.

270 posted on 07/22/2004 3:46:25 AM PDT by NYCVirago
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To: Dolphy

I've seen such varying stories that then seem to change in minor ways that I'm not certain, Dolphy.

I've started saving Berger stories that interest me so we can go back and compare the wording.


271 posted on 07/22/2004 3:47:29 AM PDT by Peach
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To: Howlin
Help me out here: didn't Bush seal Clinton's records for so many years? Seems like I remember people raising hell about it.

Yes, but I think that applies to scholars, the press, etc. getting a look at the records. It wouldn't apply in this instance.

272 posted on 07/22/2004 3:54:32 AM PDT by NYCVirago
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To: xzins
If the staff saw him stealing papers, why didn't they stop him?

My sister, who spent years as an archivist and librarian, answered this question for me last night: she said you have to remember that probably 99.9% of librarians are Dems. (This is so to such an extent that the ALA and their other professional associations are always trying to support Dem causes and candidates, regardless of the fact that this has nothing to do with library work.)

I would suspect that the staff wanted to avoid an "incident," but at the same time realized the criminal implications of letting him flat-out get away with it. Hence the tactful call to Lindsey. This not only gave Berger time to get whatever he wanted out of the papers, but clearly was intended to bury the whole thing while at the same time permitting the staff to say they took action.

273 posted on 07/22/2004 3:54:33 AM PDT by livius
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To: NYCVirago
The documents that Berger has acknowledged taking -- some of which remain missing -- are different drafts of a January 2000 "after-action review" of how the government responded to terrorism plots at the turn of the millennium. The document was written by White House anti-terrorism coordinator Richard A. Clarke, at Berger's direction when he was in government.

The different drafts may contain different versions of the same story to see how each come across in the polls. Does this one make Bill look more like a hero or this version?

274 posted on 07/22/2004 3:55:50 AM PDT by listenhillary ($0.273972603 a day = $100 a year to FR., Listenhillary, MD.)
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To: Peach
We have officially exceeded Watergate proportions with this story.

I agree. What was he censoring? Sounds like a rare, appropriate instance of the term "cover-up." He was trying to erase, cover up something from the Clinton era.

275 posted on 07/22/2004 4:06:12 AM PDT by Puddleglum (Kerry sez life begins at conception, yet he supports abortion. Is he evil, lying, or insane?)
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To: phxaz
berger planted false documents.

I'm thinking you may be right... Sounds to me like the archive security marked some documents, and when Berger gave them back, they did not have the mark. He had pulled a switcheroo.

276 posted on 07/22/2004 4:10:50 AM PDT by Puddleglum (Kerry sez life begins at conception, yet he supports abortion. Is he evil, lying, or insane?)
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To: Peach; Howlin

As far as the actual allegations, Gergen said last night that he's just basing his comments of Berger's innocence of maliciousness on what has been admitted to by Berger (via the media and via phonecalls to Berger). He acknowledges that the rumors aren't good news. Now, if facts come out in a courtroom and become more than rumor, he might be more critical of Berger. I don't like Gergen, but if he changes his tune later once things are more concrete, he gets a pass from me.


277 posted on 07/22/2004 4:14:23 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
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To: HAL9000
I've been trying for a couple of days to find out about where code word classified documents are stored, but have had no luck...

Good. At least something in Washington is still a secret.

278 posted on 07/22/2004 4:18:38 AM PDT by been_lurking
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To: Remember_Salamis
"...This official said an Archives employee called former White House deputy counsel Bruce Lindsey, who is former president Bill Clinton's liaison to the National Archives...."

Policy and procedure question:
Is it the norm [for NARA] to call an attorney first when something is missing? Why would they not call Berger? Bruce Lindsey may be the Clinton point man, but Berger took the documents, not bubba.

"....They devised a coding system and marked the documents they knew Berger was interested in canvassing, and watched him carefully...."

A coding system takes a little planning. Call a spade a spade. It was a sting operation. Would this have been done on their own initative or at the behest of the FBI?

Previous reports had him reviewing the docs for the Clinton administration to prepare for testimony before the commission. This article states Berger was reviewing docs for the Bush administration to determine what should be declassified for the 9/11 panel. If that was the case, why would they not call White House Counsel instead of Bruce Lindsey? Any significance?

I am somewhat surprised to find this article in the Washington Post. No apologies, no excuses, no "much ado about nothing" spin. Does this mean the story really does have legs?

Lastly, is Berger one to "fall on his sword" for anyone? If, as has been reported he is cooperating, does anyone have an educated guess as to whether or not he is naming names?

279 posted on 07/22/2004 4:23:07 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: Howlin
"It's all a simple mistake by a man who is just very absentminded and disorganized"....

ONCE he was the top national security adviser...Am I supposed to be comforted by their explanation?.... He knew he had them when he got home!..He is not credible.
280 posted on 07/22/2004 4:27:21 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry has been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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