Posted on 07/19/2004 5:07:42 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
By George Gedda
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, Dec. 23, 1999; 1:23 a.m. EST (WASHINGTON POST)
WASHINGTON –– Clinton administration officials need look no further than their own foreign policy in their search for explanations for the specter of possible end-of-the-millennium terrorist attacks against Americans, some foreign policy analysts say.
They are advancing this thesis as airport security is being tightened and officials are admonishing Americans at home and abroad to be on the lookout for anything suspicious in the waning days of 1999. Officials believe suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, a Saudi exile who is wanted for the bombings at two U.S. embassies in East Africa last year, may be preparing to strike.
Democrats schooling Dean on foreign policy
And in the days since, Dean has announced a foreign policy team filled with big names, from Anthony Lake, who was national security adviser under Clinton, to retired general Joseph Hoar, a top commander in the 1991 Gulf War.
Not everyone who has tutored Dean has endorsed him or even agrees with him; Albright, Clinton, and other pillars of the Democratic establishment, such as former national security adviser Samuel R. Berger, say they are talking to all candidates who ask.
But the tutorials apparently serve a dual purpose: Dean, who as governor of Vermont had little official contact with other nations except Canada, is getting a grounding in foreign policy and an opportunity to cement his credentials among mainstream Democratic thinkers. And the Democratic establishment is getting an opportunity to influence a key aspect of the man who could be their party's nominee, but whose unequivocal declarations have sometimes alarmed the party's standard-bearers.
Presidential Records In 1978, Congress passed the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which changed the legal status of Presidential and Vice Presidential materials. Under the PRA, the official records of the President and his staff are owned by the United States, not by the President. The Archivist is required to take custody of these records when the President leaves office, and to maintain them in a Federal depository. These records are eligible for access under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) five years after the President leaves office. The President may restrict access to specific kinds of information for up to 12 years after he leaves office, but after that point the records are reviewed for FOIA exemptions only. This legislation took effect on January 20, 1981, and the records of the Reagan administration were the first to be administered under this law. Staff at the Reagan Library and Bush Library can provide additional information regarding access to Presidential records in their collections.
I can't wait to see what Ann Coulter has to say about this.
More proof what a kerry admin will be like.
LOL....I haven't seen that in a long time...is that really you?
My guess is that he never thought news of the investigation would be leaked at this time......leading right up to the dem convention.
OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS HUGH!!!!
Ah, so now we're getting to the truth about Sandy's — ahem — "inadvertent" stuffing of documents down his pants, in his shirt pockets, in his briefcase, and in whatever other orifice he could use to sneak them out of the building.
So to answer your question.....they should know exactly what he took.
Somehow this story appeared in my local newspaper, of all places. Time to reassess the paper's political leanings ;)
We're in PA, middle of nowhere, not city, but it's tough to find a Republican around here.
Some...they only have copies of SOME of the now purloined by Sandy,documents? Holy cow.
My mind is completely blown.......and that visual did NOT help...........LOL.
Berger has to have been shown a video of him putting the documents into his pants or he'd be lying like the traitor he is, denying everything.
"If Berger isn't arrested I will be astounded."
LOL, are you f-ing kidding me? prepare to be astounded, because he's going to be free as a bird. (i hope im wrong).
can you imagine how big of a story this would be if it were a republican? this would be watergate x 100000. because it's a democrat i seriously dont think it will get the coverage it deserves.
And SERIES! Lots of people taking showers tonight!
bttt
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