Posted on 04/04/2005 5:54:58 AM PDT by Theodore R.
The Berger whitewash
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: April 4, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
I knew it. You knew it.
When Sandy Berger, the former national security adviser to the president of the United States, was caught red-handed stealing highly classified documents from the National Archives more than a year ago, he was permitted to go free. He was allowed to go out and give speeches. He was even permitted to serve as a national security adviser to a presidential candidate and was talked about as a possible secretary of state for John Kerry, should he have been elected to the White House.
The investigation dragged on for more than a year.
The public has never received answers as to the specific papers taken by Berger, whose excuse for being in the National Archives at the time was preparing his former boss, Bill Clinton, for testimony before the 911 commission.
And, last week, confirmation came. Berger would be charged with one misdemeanor count of taking classified material. He copped a plea and would plead guilty, avoiding any jail time. His "punishment" would be a $10,000 fine and not being allowed to serve in a national security position in the federal government for a period of three years, which, of course, is meaningless since Republicans will be in control of the White House until 2008.
It was the proverbial slap on the wrist. It's worse than that. It's a shake of the finger with a wink and a nod. It's a joke.
Berger didn't even have to admit he did anything wrong. He got away with characterizing this high crime as an "honest mistake."
Once again, the case shows there are two standards of justice in America – one for ordinary people like you and me and another for members of the establishment, the elite.
If you or I had walked out of the National Archives with highly classified documents, we would have been slapped in leg irons and done hard prison time. Berger did it and never saw the inside of a jail cell.
He wasn't even forced to produce all the documents stolen. He wasn't even forced to account for them. Did he shred them? Did he burn them? Did he sell them to foreign powers? Did he give them to the presidential candidate for whom he was working? Did he use them to blackmail someone?
The American people will never know the answers to these questions. The American people will never even get to see those documents – even though they may well have been distributed to our enemies. The American people will never even get an accounting of those papers or a suitable explanation.
Was Sandy Berger covering up for his own serious national security mistakes leading up to Sept. 11? Or was he covering up for the mistakes of his superiors?
We know that Berger signed off on instructions not to attack Osama bin Laden at least three times before the devastating terror attacks in 2001. Since this was a matter of public record, one can only wonder what unrevealed scandal or scandals he was trying to conceal.
And that's what this yearlong-plus Justice Department investigation has left us with – more unanswered questions.
Are we really at war? Are we really concerned about national security in this country? As we leave the borders wide open and slap former top national security officials on the wrist for stealing classified secrets, can we really say we are behaving like a nation at war?
When men in the battlefield, operating under wartime conditions, are prosecuted for premeditated murder for killing terrorists, we give a pass to civilian officials who steal national security secrets. Does this make sense to you?
And notice that Sandy Berger's plea agreement was announced by the Justice Department on the day Terri Schiavo died – to ensure it would be buried and overwhelmed in the day's news coverage.
Whatever crimes Berger committed – and I am certain they would be stunning if the public ever learned the full extent – the Bush Justice Department has just affirmed it is complicit in them.
Thanks for all the info.
Its very frustrating when the lame stream media won't look at this with the same scrutiny as they do what country made the bus Bush was riding in during the election season.
Someone needs to put a microphone in RINO Tom Davis' face. When this story broke he said he would hold hearings as the chair of the Gov Reform Committee. He's my critter and won't answer my mail.
I simply asked him this (before the plea bargain was revealed) on 25 March:
_____________
Subject: Documents stolen by Sandy Berger
As the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform you said, some
months ago, that you were going to hold hearings on the documents
stolen from the National Archives by former National Security Adviser,
Sandy Berger.
What is the status of those planned hearings?
Thank you
In case anyone who is charged with preventing "exceptionally grave damage to US national security " wonders what that really means --- now we know. $10,000 and 3 years probation.
I would dearly like to know what those documents said.
Yep - the average schmuck that screws up gets the maximum sentence and the movers and shakers, who should be summarily executed for the worst kind of treason get off scott free...
Good points inwoodian. Cyncooper has pointed out that apparently Berger's plea deal is conditioned on Berger's "cooperation." This is what we need to know:
(1) Have all the people who conspired with Berger been named and prosecuted?
(2) Did Berger actually destroy stolen docs--as he said---or are they being secreted (a) for Hillary's campaign in exchange for Berger getting a political appointment, for (b) Berger's financial benefit in his oil consulting business, (c) to coverup 9/11?
(3) Berger admitted to stealing documents the Archives did not list as missing---what did he do with these? Is his plea deal conditioned on Berger returning these as well?
Here's where you can send your concerns about Berger's plea deal. This is the judge who will sentence Berger. Caution: phone munber is a prosecutor's personal phone line - keep messages short and civil.
U.S. Magistrate Deborah Robinson
c/o US District Court
US Dept of Justice
Judiciary Center
555 4th Street NW
Washington, DC 20530
PHONE (202) 514-6933
Actually there are two standards for Republicans and Democrats - a Republican would have been drawn and quartered for this; the Nixon men served jail time for far less. Then you have the Mobbed up Clintons, courts and judges in place to protect them for the rest of their lives. Berger was a Clinton man. The dangerousness of the Clintons must never be underestimated – they can, will, and have done anything for power. Sandy Berger is another example of the tentacled web they have woven into American politics and ensnaring the DNC with their egregious lust for power.
Notice how Ms. Clinton has never said how she would handle terrorists or countries who harbor terrorists..............
Judge has not accepted the plea. Farah left that out plus that Berger must cooperate with the investigation, meaning it is not over and if he doesn't the deal is off.
Sentencing set for July 8.
It is most definitely news that Berger pleaded guilty to knowingly taking the documents. His public statements had claimed inadvertency but he was forced to admit it was intentional.
I agree with your viewpoint. I'm disgusted by this "punishment." It is a joke. And the idea that he can re-apply for a security clearance in three years is the icing on the cake. I am clinging to the hope that he is in some way cooperating with investigators and that there is more to the story. Probably a vain hope, but I'm not ready to let it go quite yet.
Thank you Liz!
Good question. I would like the hearings, too, but they may have been cautioned that the investigation was successfully pressuring Berger to cooperate and Congressional hearings at this time would interfere and queer the deal.
He has agreed to cooperate (which to me indicates they know he did not act alone) so I am willing to have patience for a bit longer.
You are welcome, yoe.
Oh, thanks. Didn't realize Berger might turn some evidence. If I were Berger I wouldn't be stopping at Fort Marcy Park anytime soon.
A re-reading of Farah's first paragraph indicates he's being a bit disingenuous here. (I noted his omission of the cooperation agreement) with this:
When Sandy Berger, the former national security adviser to the president of the United States, was caught red-handed stealing highly classified documents from the National Archives more than a year ago, he was permitted to go free. He was allowed to go out and give speeches. He was even permitted to serve as a national security adviser to a presidential candidate and was talked about as a possible secretary of state for John Kerry, should he have been elected to the White House.
~snip~
The fact is that after it became known that Berger had taken these documents the Kerry campaign claimed Berger served as nothing more than an informal advisor (a lie which freepers soon exposed) but nonetheless they cut him loose so he did not continue in that role, informal or formal.
I was not happy that he was globetrotting and giving speeches and opinions, either, and on that I agree with Farah.
Do you think the $10,000 for the fine comes from Bubba's excess war chest slush funds?
Farahs article was incorrect on several points. I guess what we need to know is that since it is a "plea bargain", what is he giving up and or who? I guess we have to hang in a bit more.
But one thing I feel pretty certain about, and that is if there is no public pressure brought to bear, this matter will certainly fade away.
Sandy is utilizing a classic Klintoon tool: always have your bombshells overshadowed by other more sensationalistic news. I don't know how they do it, but they have perfected this to an art form.
I agree that public pressure should be brought to bear. Absolutely.
Berger's Firm to Aid Oil Interests in Iraq By Judy Sarasohn Washington Post Thursday, September 16, 2004; Page A29
Stonebridge International, the "global strategy firm" founded by Berger, has taken on an interesting client, Gulfsands Petroleum Ltd., a private Houston-based oil and gas company. Gulfsands, along with its larger partner Devon Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, has oil and gas exploration and development interests in Syria. And now Gulfsands is looking to Iraq.
"Stonebridge is assisting Gulfsands in organizing meetings in Washington with administration officials to discuss the company's business interests in Iraq and U.S. policy toward Syria," Stonebridge Vice Chairman H.P. Goldfield said in an e-mail response to written questions.
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