Berger Will Plead Guilty To Taking Classified Paper(April 1, 2005 )

The Washington Post ^ | April 1, 2005 | John F. Harris and Allan Lengel

[DallasMike]

Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, a former White House national security adviser, plans to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, and will acknowledge intentionally removing and destroying copies of a classified document about the Clinton administration's record on terrorism.

Berger's plea agreement, which was described yesterday by his advisers and was confirmed by Justice Department officials, will have one of former president Bill Clinton's most influential advisers and one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign policy advisers in a federal court this afternoon.

[DallasMike]

Stingray:  Conservative Christian News and Commentary

[Darkwolf377]

They sure managed to drip...drip...drip the info on THIS story, as opposed to All DeLay All the Time, and Wilsongate!

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Another well-timed Friday release.

[Howlin]

Friday afternoon news dump!

[Ann Archy]

MISDEMEANOR???? People are thrown out of the military for a LOT less!! The Clintnistas escape again.

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[Yossarian]

Under terms negotiated by Berger's attorneys and the Justice Department, he has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and accept a three-year suspension of his national security clearance.

WOW! What a harsh penalty! This will really deter others from manipulating classified documents to cover up ineptness and crimes!

These terms must be accepted by a judge before they are final,

I don't suppose we can hope for a hanging judge?

[mathprof]

Wow!  I'm surprised since I thought his fate was a done deal:

 The terms of Berger's agreement required him to acknowledge to the Justice Department the circumstances of the episode. Rather than misplacing or unintentionally throwing away three of the five copies he took from the archives, as the former national security adviser earlier maintained, he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business.
 

[Izzy Dunne]

He accepts complete responsibility for his actions, and regrets the mistakes he made during his review of documents at the National Archives."

Hmmm. Next time I get caught robbing a bank, I will try this explanation.
"Sir, I regret my mistakes".

[onyx]

A misdemeanor plea agreement on FRIDAY afternoon.

[bkepley]

Why did he ever bother? He's either very stupid or there's more than meets the eye here.

[MOgirl]

Hello,

Also interesting, the article is dated April 1st.... :)

Glad to be here, MOgirl

[Shermy]

Archives officials have said previously that Berger had copies only, and that no original documents were lost. It remains unclear whether Berger knew that, or why he destroyed three versions of a document but left two other versions intact. Officials have said the five versions were largely similar, but contained slight variations as the after-action report moved around different agencies of the executive branch.

Largely similar! LOL! Not copies.

Maybe he distroyed the copies with his notes "I agree with Dick, Osama will boogie to Baghdad."

[caisson71]

A misdemeanor? This only further confirms that there is no crime in high politics as long as high politics write the laws.

[WoofDog123]

some animals are more equal than other animals. republican or democrat is a title for OUR consumption.

[Darkwolf377]

Don't worry, the Sunday morning shows will be nothing but wall-to-wall coverage of how the National Security Advisor admitted to destroying documents about the President's anti-terror record. You just know there will be nothing but nonstop criticism of the Clinton Administration as being corrupt, and a complete hammering of the Democrats ("Let's move on, there are important issues concerning the American people") who defend Berger.

P.S. You wanna send me the check for that swampland?

[null and void]

I don't suppose we can hope for a hanging judge?

I bet we get a clinton appointee...

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Would it be a misdemeanor if I waltzed out the door with classified documents?

[Bernard]

"Is that a state secret in your pocket, Mr. Berger, or are you just glad to see me?"

[OldFriend]

Berger belongs in a federal prison.

[ghost of nixon]

So he lied as well as stole documents and destroyed them - un-freaking-believable!

[tet68]

Officials have said the five versions were largely similar, but contained slight variations as the after-action report moved around different agencies of the executive branch.

It wasn't the memos, it was the marginal notes and initials.

[bkepley]

I'll tell you one thing, if he goes before a confirmation some day in the future we're likely to hear a lot more about this.

[hgro]

Steal a loaf of bread and unlike good old boy Sandy Berger, you will be charged as a felon and likely do serious time in the hoosegow.

[Mo1]

Check the date

It's from last year

[StormEye]

"Under terms negotiated by Berger's attorneys and the Justice Department, he has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and accept a three-year suspension of his national security clearance."

Does this mean he gets his "security clearance" back when the three years are up? Why was he allowed to keep his clearance after he left office? Does Bill Clinton have a security clearance and can he go to Archives and examine, copy or remove any classified document he wishes?

[onyx]

LOL!
I didn;t LOOK!

[Mo1]

Check the date

April 1st .... 2005

[NormsRevenge]

LOLOL

an A+ for you, MO1. ;-)

[PGalt]

And yet ANOTHER example of the anti-truth, anti-freedom, anti-life Democratic Crime Syndicate.

[onyx]

ROFLOL!
One of the few times, I didn;t LOOK!
LOL!

[Howlin]

Well I wondered...

[Ann Archy]

There is a different law for the Democrats than for Republicans.....t's SICKENING!

[Mo1]

Well .. I knew he was already sentenced to probation .. I figured something was up

Though I will admit .. I did have to take a double take *L*

[Mo1]

LOL .. this one of the few time I did look

I normaly ALWAYS fall for it

[Enchante]

UNBELIEVABLY WEAK!!!

This is unreal - this slimebag should have served JAIL TIME with a FELONY on his record for this. I know this plea deal was discussed or rumored some time ago, but still it's absolutely galling when it's finally announced (and with a Friday night anti-media dump to minimize publicity). At a minimum, the government should never have let him plead without agreement that he would relinquish his security clearance FOR LIFE. I have a friend who used to work in a high office in the Pentagon, who says that outstanding military careers have been ended for much less than this. Sandy Burglar will wash his hands of this and still be eligible to serve in a future 'Rat administration if (heaven forbid) there should be one.....

"Officials have said the five versions were largely similar, but contained slight variations as the after-action report moved around different agencies of the executive branch."

Gee, would those "slight variations" be the handwritten remarks of people like Bill Clinton, Algore, and Sandy Burglar himself???? I know that's been denied by some stories in the past, but it seems pretty near inconceivable he would have bothered to do these nefarious deeds or would have cared about vanishing THREE versions of the report down the Orwellian memory-hole unless they each contained unique features that he simply had to prevent the 9/11 Omission Commission from seeing........ SANDY BURGLAR IS SCUM.

[Reily]

This comment is for general consumption.
I found this 'deal' contemptible !
If some lowly GS9 had done what Berger has done that poor person would be ruined for life. Berger skates with a wrist slap ! I bet Berger still has clearances !
What does Berger 'kiss-in-the-dark' punishment say to all the more lowly workers who hold security clearances.
One law for he & another law for thee !

[Enchante]

"outstanding military careers have been ended for much less than this"

That is, for far less serious non-criminal mishandling of a classified document such as leaving it on your desk inadvertently, etc. What Sandy Burglar did was obviously completely intentional and pre-meditated, criminal in the extreme, and goes far beyond the truly 'inadvertent' actions that have wrecked careers of some otherwise fine officers. Treating Sandy Burglar with such "kid gloves" makes a mockery of the standards and laws for handling classified materials. It certainly makes it clear yet again that 'Rat scumbags do not have to follow the same laws and rules as all the rest of us!!

[DallasMike]

Check the date

April 1st .... 2005

Oh, crap. I really messed up. I was browsing the Washington Post website, this story came up, and I thought it was brand new.

Sorry, guys.

[Doogle]

...desperate people do very desperate things.
Connecting "dots" lead right to clinton's spineless actions during the mid 90's when nations were trying to deal with UBL AND OFFERED HIM to the clinton administration and scum bag did nothing because he worried about polls.....thus after numerous "actions" with no reactions, UBL showed his followers the US was weak and not willing to respond.
Able Danger,berger's stuffing,corelick's wall,tenet's TWO face to face meetings with clinton over three years, while
embassies were being blown up, USS Cole, and a very nasty and growing UBL even more popular and clinton...DID NOTHING.

[onyx]

LOL! You mean you fooled yourself too?
I feel MUCH better.

Mo1 is the smart gal.

[Wristpin]

"MISDEMEANOR???? People are thrown out of the military for a LOT less!!"

If a military type was to be caught stealing Top Secret SCI, they would be reduced in rank to E-1, forfeit all pay, and spend a bunch of years in Leavenworth.

Bush should have never left this guy get away with this. The Dems are now beating their faux security drums. He should be hitting them over the head about this crime.

[woofie]

There are giant gorillas in your front yard....


April Fools

[DallasMike]

Yes, I really did fool myself.

[maine-iac7]

he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business.

- the 'punishment' is exactly what they said how many years go? In other words - no punishment and in 3 years he's got security clearance again?

Were he a republican, he'd go to jail - for a long time and never work in government again....and every republican that had ever as much as passed him in hallway would be under indictment.

And why has he never been made to disclose who sent him to steal the documents - indeed, why isn't he being charged with stealing security information? He's only being charged - if you can call it that = with mis-speaking.

[Mo1]

Too Funny !!

[Txsleuth]

I'm not surprised he would plead guilty for the misdemeanor...he must have been laughing at the Justice Dept. the whole time he was signing the plea deal..

NOW, he will probably sign on to help the dems with their plans to impeach President Bush next year...

[Txsleuth]

Good point, MO

I wonder how many stories may be "Fools jokes" from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow night..LOL

[kellynla]

Fat Sandy was protected by a J. Edgar Hoover Insurance policy...
amazing what you can get away with when your old boss has a safety deposit box full of F.B.I. files...

[sarasota]

Early April fool's joke.