AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos [Sandy Berger is the focus of a criminal investigation]

Yahoo ^

[Sub-Driver]

AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos

3 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By JOHN SOLOMON

WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a criminal investigation after admitting he removed highly classified terrorism documents from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings, The Associated Press has learned.

Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (news - web sites) agents armed with warrants. Some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing.

Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had taken from classified anti-terror documents he reviewed at the National Archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.

"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 to the AP.

Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of the president's second term and most recently has been informally advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.

The FBI searched Berger's home and office with warrants earlier this year after employees of the National Archives told agents they believed they witnessed Berger put documents into his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers, officials said.

When asked, Berger said he returned some of the classified documents, which he found in his office, and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but said he could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report.

[Howlin]

Guess who was in charge of the investigation of Waco?

http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/04-13-04/discussion.cgi.16.html

[faithincowboys]

``The House Intelligence Committee has not been informed on the loss or theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives, but we will follow up and get the information that is appropriate for the committee to have,'' the committee said Monday in a statement. ``And if it has occurred, we should be informed. If there has been delay in getting the information to the committee we need to know why.''

That "we need to know why" line suggests to me that we have hearings on this in our future. Kind of like Memogate--when how they were discovered seemed to trump content-- when the weak-spined GOPers caved even though they had the Rats dead to rites. We grap defeat out of the jaws of victory a lot.

[SandRat]

This may develop into more than a few ARKANCIDES.

[gov_bean_ counter]

If this investigation has been going on for 9 months, then chances are it is about more than just Sandy.

[samantha]

Well it won't be hillary,maybe Dennis Kucinich will be ready to stop campaigning to accept the nomination. LOL!!!!!

[Palladin]

Nothing will save Kerry now.

[VRWCTexan]

In other words, the "wall of separation" constructed by Jamie Gorelick made it virtually impossible for U.S. authorities to stop Ahmed Rassam, the "Millenium Bomber," by design or intention. It was left to blind luck. The NSC's Millennium After Action Review — which, based on Attorney General Ashcroft's testimony, must be devastating in its analysis of not only this event but of the Gorelick policy — remains classified. And, most significantly, it's likely the Review's criticisms and warnings were either ignored or rejected by the Clinton Justice Department.

This is the SAME "GORELICK" that served as a 9/11 commissioner and blasted Bush!!

[Mo1]

BS! He was the freaking National Security Adviser, he knows what is a classified document and which are originals. This is exactly their MO.

REGARDLESS if they are orginals or copies .. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE ROOM

He knows that

[My2Cents]

Good rundown, Wolfstar. This is going to get interesting. We now have a liar (Wilson) and a felon (Berger) advising the Kerry campaign.

[kcvl]

Sandy Berger is a lying piece of crap...

FBI was not focused as sharply on counterterrorism as the CIA. The overall impression that the Bureau conveyed to us, until the very end of our time in office, was that al Qaeda had a limited capacity to operate in the U.S. and that its presence here was under surveillance. The stream of threat information we received each day pointed repeatedly to attacks on U.S. interests abroad, not at home. And because that was the daily threat picture, that was where we focused most of our attention. Nonetheless, when presented with specific domestic threats - such as during the Millennium period - we protected the homeland.

Finally, you asked about the transition. When the Clinton administration ended, we did our best to alert the incoming team to the terrorist threat in general and the al Qaeda threat specifically. During the transition, Bush administration officials received intensive briefings on terrorism. As the press has reported, I told my successor Condoleezza Rice that she would be spending more time on terrorism and bin Laden than any other issue.

[AGreatPer]

"That is one big mistake Bush made when taking office, imo."

You are so correct. Being nicey, nicey with these people does NOT work. Look at what T. Kennedy has done. It doesn't work.

This and "Illegals" puts a sour note on this administration. Admit, it sure beats the hell out of the alternative, but not really happy, happy. Maybe setting up for 2nd term, but I doubt it.

Pandering is more common today just to get re-elected. I don't have to like it though.

[Ann Archy]

Sooooo Clinton's National SECURITY guy apologizes for his SLOPPINESS!! And we wonder why we were hit so hard on 9-11.....this is a ahigh crime and much worse than a misdemeanor!!

Chipmunk Cheeks is in BIG TROUBLE!!

[elbucko]

I found this while searching GOOGLE.

And a fine photo it is of Julius Berger, Che` Kerry and Fidel Clinton at the Hanoi Embassy.

[MJY1288]

I doubt I'll be able to post a thread because I'm very busy at work, but I have to laugh at watching the repeat of Hardball, they're whining about Arnold calling the California Dems "Girlymen"

Something tells me that we won't ever hear about that comment again ROFLMAO.

What we will see in the next few weeks, is the Democrats doing damage control, the DEM Convention is going to look like a Wake, and not a Wellstone Wake either.

[Mo1]

Don't you find it interesting that the media is identifying Berger with the Clinton administration? Like, suddenly they are willing to throw Clinton over the side in order to save Kerry.

I did notice that .. might be because they know they can't stuff this story under the rug and have to pin it on someone

[longtermmemmory]

oh no its Berger-gate.

I wonder what was in his FBI file to do this act to protect Hitlary and Bill.

[montag813]

(1) Didn't Sandy Berger testify under oath to the 9/11 Commission that he sent memos out to airlines and border patrol agents which led to the apprehension of would-be LAX-bomber Ahmed Ressam? And didn't customs inspector Diana Dean, who personally caught Ressam say the very next day that there was absolutely NO MEMOS OR WARNINGS WHATSOEVER from the NSC, CIA, FBI or anyone in the Clinton Apparatus? Did Berger therefore lie under oath?

(2) Did the after-report documents which Berger apparently stole and destroyed contain explicit warnings to Clinton about Al Queda plans to use airplanes to target buildings? If so, did the Clintons order these destroyed to eliminate the clear evidence of their own malfeasance?

[petitfour]

I think it's more than a payoff. It's putting a compromised person in a position of great information gathering. At that point, Bubba could not very well trust the folks in the CIA to give him information. He went above them. Or maybe he thought that he was going around the CIA. Who knows.

[devolve]

October: Berger returns a few documents after the Archive contact Lindsey, Bill Clinton's attorney....

Next paragraphs:

When FBI agents searched Berger's home next JANUARY with search warrants Berger's safe was opened.

More missing secret documents from the Archive were then found in Sandy berger's home office safe......

-- [paraphrased]

Sandy Berger was willfully and knowingly and illegally (repeatedly!) removing and concealing confidential secret Archive documents from the Clinton administration that were requested by the 911 Commission dealing with A-Q and terrorism threats to the USA!

Sandy Berger is Kerry's "unofficial advisor"!

Like Joe "Yellowcake" Wilson who wrote his NYT's Op-Eds and whored all over TV while working for John Kerry's campaign!

And "Co-Whored" with WABC 770am NYC's JOHN BATCHELOR [Show] and democrat activist JOHN LOFTIS tonight with JOE WILSON as the revisionist guest [until about 12 midnight Monday, July 19, 2004] of "RINO JOHN" BATCHELOR, who is a big JOHN KERRY booster!

[cyncooper]

Oh, we were joking. I hope it's clear I've got a firm handle on how the clintons and their minions operate.

[AGreatPer]

Isn't it amazing how Kerry is in hiding this week? They knew this was coming and there is more to come.

[My2Cents]

He claims he took them to study in preparation for his testimony

The report was that he stuffed some of the notes in his jacket, and stuffed some in his pants...What is it about Clinton-related scandals and pants?

[Just mythoughts]

"Looks like a good reason to cleanse the record."

Clarke was writing his book at this time frame. Sure makes sense all that special treatment given to him by the commission.

The whole Commission is now nothing but a conspiracy to cover up what the Clintons did not do and an attempt to destroy President Bush so this bunch could get back in power.

Now "if" Hillry really plans on becoming president it is in her best interest to make sure that JFKerry gets no where near that White House.

Berger seems to have been playing both sides Clinton and JFKerry. He sure is a devoted player in the Cult of Clintonism.

[kristinn]

We'll know why this story broke now soon when other parties start leaking and spinning.

[BurbankKarl]

Funny, not on the LA Times website

News hotlines: News concerning the Washington, D.C., area (202) 293-4650.


News related to other areas of the U.S. (213) 237-7092. Fax: (213) 237-4712.
E-mail: dcburo@latimes.com

[Peach]

It will be interesting to see what Kerry does now with Berger.

There needs to be some electronic gadget that I don't own that would tape Rush's show for me. And a tape recorder just won't do it, I don't think.

[My2Cents]

Oh, we're only talking about papers. Time to "move on." (/cynicism)

[Shaka]

Ahh..finally a story that cannot be ignored. Clinton official will dominate the headlines. They;ve dodged before,,they;ll do it again. Kerry is going to be looking like a monkey humping a football for the next few weeks. Berger IS ADVISING KERRY ON FOREIGN POLICY. Enough said.

[Wolfstar]

I've got to go feed my dogs, as they are milling about mournfully. I'd like to think that when we wake up in the morning, this story will have become a media firestorm. Not likely, but I can hope. Night, Onyx. We are only just beginning to learn about this story. Details are sketchy now, and there's much to piece together. But FReepers are good at it.

[StarFan]

How long before Matthews invites Kristen and the other New Jersey widows to come on his show and cry foul? Don't hold your breath.

[Ann Archy]

Hopefully, Justice will be done.

[CFC__VRWC]

Wow, I gotta go find the Dramamine. All that spin left me queasy!

[faithincowboys]

Who's next? God, I hope Jamie Rubin gets wrecked like Wilson and Berger.

[MJY1288]

LOL, The best part of all of this.... Is the fact that the Dems demanded these investigations, and it was Hillary Rotten Clinton who first waived the daily newspaper on the Senate Floor and asked the question: "What did the President Know, and When Did He Know It"

It simply doesn't get any better than this :-)

[kcvl]

Marc Levin...

In other words, the "wall of separation" constructed by Jamie Gorelick made it virtually impossible for U.S. authorities to stop Ahmed Rassam, the "Millenium Bomber," by design or intention. It was left to blind luck. The NSC's Millennium After Action Review — which, based on Attorney General Ashcroft's testimony, must be devastating in its analysis of not only this event but of the Gorelick policy — remains classified. And, most significantly, it's likely the Review's criticisms and warnings were either ignored or rejected by the Clinton Justice Department.

[Howlin]

Somebody should "alert" her to this ongoing, breaking news story and get her views on it. :-)

After all, she's been DENIED access to ALL the records, hasn't she?

[untenured]

The Associated Press has learned.

Government and congressional officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe involves classified materials, said the investigation remains active and no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.

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 focus of the current criminal probe, officials and lawyers said.

The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton administration, officials and lawyers say. The Archives is believed to have copies of some of the missing documents.

I don't know AP sourcing conventions -- can a former official like Berger be identified as a "government official"? If so, this story is so full of passive voices and uncertainties that I wonder whether the Berger legal team is preemptively leaking it, having gotten wind of some investigation moving farther up the food chain. "Lawyers" is surely a Berger attorney, so "officials" probably would be on his team too. Just wild speculation, of course, but it's as good as anything given the info we have so far.

[MJY1288]

Limbaugh posts a transcript I believe

[Mo1]

I just thought of something .. this story was about airports and ports

Why does that anonymous fax the Jersey Girls rec'd keep popping in my head?

[Just mythoughts]

"....But if I understand other posters on this thread correctly, then he stole the documents sometime last October. If Berger was in the National Archives looking at the same Millenium material Ashcroft testified about five months later, that seems to reinforce what Ashcroft was saying about something even more explosive than the Gorelick bombshell."


Richard Clarke was writing his book at this same time frame. He takes the credit for no attacks during Y2K.

There was no doubt in my mind with Ashcroft's words and Gorelick's face that she knew darn well what he was saying, while I didn't have a clue.

[snooker]

Whoa, that Levin article connects a bunch of dots.

The 1999 millennium bomber after action report not only says Clinton ignored the al Quada warnings and did nothing, it points to Gorelick's wall of separation as the cause of our inability to stop the 9/11 attack.

So that's why it was so important to rewrite.

[onyx]

Night Wolfstar.
My head is about to explode.
I'm fixing to call it a night too.

[woodyinscc]

I hope it's clear I've got a firm handle on how the clintons and their minions operate.

Very very clear. You are a great asset to FR.

[StarFan]

How long before we hear that Clinton is who asked him to go to the National Archives?

Not long as it's stated in the article posted in thread1,079.... "Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission".

[faithincowboys]

We'll see. The media is very good at ignoring things that destory the Left.

[Mo1]

It simply doesn't get any better than this :-)

No it doesn't .. *L*

[MJY1288]

I know, but the mainstream media will avoid reporting it for as long as they can. Sorry for not making my statement more clear

[nopardons]

You're absolutely right,on all accounts.I just wish more people knew this.

[Seeking the truth]

I'm trying to catch up...up to reply #343

Has it been determined when Berger took these documents!

[Peach]

Thanks for that newer article. So Clinton asked him to review docs in October, Berger testified in April as I recall watching on television, and he was already under investigations and this is the first we've heard of it????

If it had been a Republican, the leak would have been the day after it happened in October.

And Berger has retained counsel.