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ELVIS
07-20-2004, 04:07 PM
Clinton Criminal Administration


From John King CNN (http://cnn.law.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Federal+probe+targets+Clinton%27s+national+securi ty+adviser+-+Jul+20%2C+2004&expire=-1&urlID=11058358&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FLAW%2F07%2F2 0%2Fberger.probe%2Findex.html&partnerID=2013)




WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Samuel Berger, former President Clinton's national security adviser, is under federal criminal investigation for allegedly removing classified documents and handwritten notes from a National Archives screening room during preparations for his testimony before the 9/11 commission.

Sources familiar with the investigation confirmed it to CNN on Monday.

The sources told CNN the investigation began last October, after Berger spent roughly 30 hours over three or four days reviewing what one said was "tens of thousands of pages" of Clinton administration documents to comply with a request from the 9/11 commission.

Berger was designated as the official from the Clinton administration who would review documents relevant to commission inquiries. He was also a witness at the 9/11 commission hearings and reviewed records to prepare for his personal testimony.

The Associated Press first reported the story Monday.

In a statement, Berger acknowledged that he removed his handwritten notes without first having them reviewed for sensitive information, and he also said he "inadvertently" removed some of the classified documents he had reviewed during his time at the Archives.

National Archives' policy requires that if someone reviews classified documents and wants to take their handwritten notes with them, those notes must first be cleared by archivists.

In his statement, Berger said that "when I was informed by the Archives there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally discarded."

"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," he said.

A Berger associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the FBI served warrants and searched both Berger's home and office earlier this year as part of the investigation.

A government official familiar with the investigation said that some documents are still missing.

Among the documents Berger says he inadvertently took, the sources confirmed, were drafts of a Clinton administration "after action" report on efforts to thwart al Qaeda around the time of the millennium.

Archives officials told investigators that at least one draft of that report is still missing.

Officials close to Berger said it was ludicrous to suggest that he was trying to hide damaging information from the 9/11 commission.

They said the drafts were written by Clinton counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke and had been changed somewhat, as is customary, as the drafts were circulated among relevant agencies and officials.

But the sources close to Berger said there were other copies of the drafts, that the commission had the final version of the report and that Clarke had said there were not significant changes during the drafting process.

The sources said the FBI had contacted Berger several months ago and that he hired Lanny Breuer, who has since been in contact with prosecutors.

Berger has stressed his willingness to cooperate, but investigators have not asked to speak directly with him as yet, the sources said.

Asked if it unusual that Berger has not yet been interviewed, the government official familiar with the investigation responded that investigators would do so once they are satisfied they have the evidence they need.

Sources close to Berger said they did not believe there was a grand jury impaneled as part of the investigation and that to the best of their knowledge, Clarke and other Clinton administration officials who have knowledge of the documents in question -- and specifically about any changes made in the drafting process of the millennium report -- have not been questioned.

One of these sources questioned the timing of the leak, three days before the public release of the 9/11 commission report.

"There is a story here, and Sandy concedes he made an inadvertent mistake," one source, a former Clinton administration colleague, said. "But this has been kept confidential for months. So why now?"

A Justice Department spokesman had no comment when asked about the Berger probe.

Berger currently serves as an informal adviser to the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry.



:elvis:

FORD
07-20-2004, 04:09 PM
Sounds like much ado about nothing.

Sgt Schultz
07-20-2004, 04:28 PM
"Bergaler" "inadvertantly" put them in his pants> Uh..... yeah. We're supposed to believe this? I've done a lot of archival research - not classified - and even there people know damn well that if you take anything out of there you are STEALING it - because you aren't allowed to check materials out, can't bring a bag or any container in. The only thing you are allowed to have is a pencil and note pad.

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“Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had made while reading classified anti-terror documents he reviewed at the archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. “

WSJ: Berger Took Secret 9/11 Docs on Five Occasions

Kerry campaign adviser Sandy Berger removed secret terrorism documents from a 9/11 Commission reading room on no fewer than five occasions, his lawyer Lanny Breuer admitted late Monday night.

Breuer told the Wall Street Journal that his client, who served previously as the Clinton administration's national security adviser, inadvertently removed several copies of an after-action report on the foiled 1999 Millennium bomb plot during two separate visits to the top secret facility. Breuer said also that Berger deliberately removed handwritten notes that he made during three additional visits to the Archives last fall to review classified documents.

Breuer said removing those notes was a violation of National Archives policy, and that Berger regretted the action. "He knew it was a technical violation, and he admits that it was an error in judgment."

But according to New York civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby, Berger's decision to remove his notes wasn't just a "technical violation."

"You're not permitted to remove anything from that room - period," he said Tuesday morning. "And that means even your notes. If you're taking notes about classified information, those notes are now classified. They're placed in a secure area. You can have access to them only while being viewed by a security officer. Nothing gets removed."

Even if Berger had removed only his personal notes on classified material, it would still be a crime, said Kuby, who learned about classified reading room procedures during his own involvement in the trial of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers.

Noted civil rights attorney and regular defender of the Clinton administration Ron Kuby said Tuesday that it's hard to believe former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger took top secret terrorism documents from a 9/11 Commission reading room by accident.

"Nobody, nobody inadvertently picks up classified information and walks out with it. It isn't done," Kuby told his WABC Radio partner Curtis Sliwa. Berger, who now serves as a key adviser to the Kerry-Edwards campaign on national security issues, told FBI probers that his own "sloppiness" caused him to begin stuffing his pockets and briefcase with the top secret papers.

But the perpetrator-friendly New York lawyer wasn't buying his excuses.

"You cannot do this accidentally," he told Sliwa. "You can do it arrogantly, being so used to your top security clearance that you figure the rules don't apply to you - and I've seen that in Republican and Democratic administrations alike. But you don't do it accidentally."

Kuby insisted that even if Berger had simply removed the notes he made while viewing the secret Clinton administration terror documents, it would still be a crime.

"If you're taking notes about classified information, those notes are now classified. They're placed in a secure area. You can have access to them only while being viewed by a security officer. Nothing gets removed."

"It's a crime to remove classified information or to deal with it in a manner that potentially compromises it," he said.

Kuby said he learned about the security procedures first hand, when he was permitted to view classified information during his involvement in the trial of the first World Trade Center bombers.

"The rules are very strict," he said. "There's somebody monitoring you. The notes that you take on classified material themselves are deemed to be classified. You leave everything there."

"You're not permitted to remove anything from that room - period," he emphasized. "It's a crime to remove classified information or to deal with it in a manner that potentially compromises it."

FORD
07-20-2004, 04:34 PM
So who "reviewed" documents on behalf of the BCE, and why aren't they investigating him?

ELVIS
07-21-2004, 03:39 PM
http://www.drudgereport.com/berger.jpg
Clinton and friends show support for Berger


:elvis:

JCOOK
07-21-2004, 04:17 PM
If i walk into a store and "Inadvertantly" stick something in my pants and walk out with it, Isnt' there a word for that? I know there is i just cant' think of what it is.

FORD
07-21-2004, 04:25 PM
Originally posted by JCOOK
If i walk into a store and "Inadvertantly" stick something in my pants and walk out with it, Isnt' there a word for that? I know there is i just cant' think of what it is.

Yes, if you inadvertantly do so, it's called an honest mistake. It's happenned to me before. I also shoplifted when I was a kid, so I know the difference.

JCOOK
07-21-2004, 04:36 PM
Why do all Clinton related scandals revolve around the word pants

JCOOK
07-21-2004, 04:52 PM
If i "inadvertantly had Vince Foster killed, is there word for that?

Wayne L.
07-21-2004, 07:59 PM
Former Clinton Security Adviser Sandy Burger SHOULD be indicted for this criminal act which could possibly get him 10 years in prison I have heard because you DON'T accidentally steal classified goverment papers & put them in your pants unless you're a certified moron!!!

FORD
07-21-2004, 08:01 PM
Originally posted by JCOOK
If i "inadvertantly had Vince Foster killed, is there word for that?

Yes. The words would be "I am George Herbert Walker Bush"

FORD
07-21-2004, 08:03 PM
Originally posted by Wayne L.
Blah blah blah blah foot fetish blah blah blah blah legendary blah blah blah blah I am a certified moron!!!

Sgt Schultz
07-22-2004, 10:21 AM
Originally posted by FORD
Yes, if you inadvertantly do so, it's called an honest mistake. It's happenned to me before. I also shoplifted when I was a kid, so I know the difference.

Like i said before, I've done a lot of reasearch in archives rooms and there is NO WAY you inadvertantly stuff archival papers into your clothing and leave with them. Walking around a store and you put the candy bar in your shirt pocket, yeah maybe. Classified documents at the National Archives - no.

Wayne L.
07-22-2004, 10:22 AM
If you DON'T have anything to say about the subject at hand as in the disappearing papers by Sandy Berger, but you constantly harass me because YOU'RE envious of me that's your mental problem pal, if you LIKE handsome guys FORD instead of beautiful women with long legs & sexy feet you are gay!!!

John Ashcroft
07-22-2004, 10:27 AM
Last time I checked, even "mistakes" go punished when dealing with national security issues.

Sgt Schultz
07-22-2004, 10:41 AM
Guards Finger Berger in Sox Docs Heist

After three days worth of denials from his legal team, eyewitnesses to Sandy Berger's top secret document heist have confirmed that the former national security advisor did indeed stash national security secrets in his socks, as well as his pants pockets.

"The stuffed socks and pockets is real," a senior law enforcement official told the New York Daily News. "The (theft) was reported by the guards." Guards at the National Archives told the FBI that Berger was observed stuffing his socks with handwritten notes about files he reviewed that were going to the Sept. 11 panel, the News said.

Since the news broke on Monday that Berger was the subject of a criminal investigation over the stolen docs, his lawyer Lanny Brewer has repeatedly told reporters that claims Berger stashed secrets in his socks were "ridiculous."

Guards also told investigators that Berger repeatedly asked to be left alone so he could make private phone calls. If Berger did make any calls from the top secret National Archives reading room, investigators will want to check his cell phone records to see whom he was contacting, and whether he was discussing the purloined documents.

Any calls to ex-President Clinton, who had dispatched Berger on the mission in advance of his own 9/11 testimony, could have staggering implications for the Democratic Party.

When Clinton testified before the 9/11 Commission on April 9, he was accompanied by Berger and his longtime damage-controller, Bruce Lindsey.