Archives Denies Report That Berger Is in the Clear

NewsMax .com | 7/30/04 | Carl Limbacher

[kattracks]

A senior spokeswoman for the National Archives denied a report Friday morning that Archives officials have cleared former Kerry-Edwards campaign adviser Sandy Berger on charges that he withheld documents from the 9/11 Commission.

"In spite of what the Wall Street Journal said, the National Archives really isn't commenting on this case because it's under investigation," Susan Cooper, chief spokeswoman for the Archives, told NewsMax.com. The Journal reported in Friday editions:

"Officials looking into the removal of classified documents from the National Archives by former Clinton National Security Advisor Samuel Berger say no original materials are missing and nothing Mr. Berger reviewed was withheld from the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. ... The conclusion by Archives officials and others would seem to lay to rest the issue of whether any information was permanently destroyed or withheld from the commission."

The Journal report was picked up by ABC Radio network news, which further misreported the story by saying that the Justice Department had cleared Sandy Berger of all charges.

But Ms. Cooper disputed the claim that she or any other Archives official had said any such thing.

"We really have had nothing to say and will continue to have nothing to say about the particulars of the [Berger] case," Cooper told NewsMax. "I gather that there's somebody else in the food chain that has been talking about the case but it's not at the Archives."

In keeping with her no-comment policy, the Archives chief spokeswoman declined to confirm an earlier Washington Post report that Berger had destroyed four of the six copies of the Millennium Plot After Action Review stored in Archives files.

Cooper also declined to say whether draft copies of the document with original notes in the margins were among the papers Berger's lawyer Lanny Breuer said his client had "discarded."

[tang-soo]

Why the apparent miss direction by the WSJ???

I posted a thread on Thursday that illustrates how classified is supposed to be handled. The title of the thread is Details of Classified Document Handling Procedures.

bout "honest mistakes" vs premeditation. If you have already read this, please ignore.

The thread can be found here.

[Eva]

The Journal story was written by Scott Paltrow, it appears on pg A6, the telephone number is 212 416 2500. Give him a call and ask him to clarify is article.

[smc]

Has this shown up anywhere else? I have some lib friends who will not accept NewsMax as a source for *anything*

[Carl/NewsMax]

Has this shown up anywhere else? I have some lib friends who will not accept NewsMax as a source for *anything*

You can tell your liberal friends that NewsMax's quotes of Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper were based on a tape recorded telephone interview Friday morning.

[bjs1779]

"so he INADVERTENTLY took them again"

We are not allowed to post an article from this source, but maybe Sandy was fishing for a lot more then we now think.
John Kerry Comunist Connections

[smc]

Wow..ask a question and get answer from 'The' Carl :-)

I'm honored by and thankful for the response.

[Digger]

Sandy Burglar should be indicted! And that's the bottom line!!!

If he is not & doesn't get on orange suit you can kiss your government good-by. I'm on the fence here. I wonder what the Vegas odds are. 50-50?

[Graymatter]

>>The timing of this story is suspect.

The timing, and the content too! This is Democrat skullduggery, to be sure. The Bush administration must not allow such things to stand unchallenged and unrefuted. And in Berger's case, unindicted.

[bjs1779]

Thanks Carl for looking into this. I think the landscape has changed quite a bit since the good old Whitewater days. At that time FreeRepublic was nonexistant. FoxNews was fledgling at best and you and Worldnetdaily were at least in the same boat. Let's give them a run for their money this time around.

[yoe]

I am greatly relieved to know that Mr. Berger is still under the lights...what I would like to know, and may have missed it, is..........John Ashcroft mentioned other documents that came to light that he had not been apprised of from Berger (?) when he took office - that those papers were not forth coming. Does anyone know what those papers were?

Freepers, post daily whatever you find about Sandy Berger – this must not be swept under the rug!

[yellowhammer]

bump

[deadhead]

"This Berger story MUST be kept alive........."

I agree!

[Temple Owl]

I just read the WSJ story and was surprised. I still think he violated laws, but I am willing to wait for more details. If he even took the stuff out of the office without permission, he should be charged and arrested.

[Datom]

Calling Albert Hunt calling Al Hunt. Hey Al answer your page.

[B4Ranch]

80 he walks and 20 he gets a talking to, 100 not jail time.

[beyond the sea]

This Berger story MUST be kept alive.....

Exactly, EggsAckley! Sandy Pants must go up the river. I still feel he is going to get very depressed within weeks or months. ;-)

The Dems. will blame it on the evil Republicans for driving him to it..... sort of like the newspaper articles depressed Vince Foster.

[MeekOneGOP]

Archives Denies Report That Berger Is in the Clear

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[bad company]

My thoughts exactly.