July 19, 2004
DEUTSCH DISEASE:
Kevin Patrick informs us Sandy Berger has a sticky finger problem.
MORE:
Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos (JOHN SOLOMON, 7/19/04, AP)
President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes 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 agents armed with warrants after he voluntarily returned documents to the National Archives. However, still missing are 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.
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had made while reading classified anti-terror documents at the archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said. [...]
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. Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.
The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees told agents they believed they saw Berger place documents in his clothing while reading sensitive Clinton administration papers and that some documents were then noticed missing, officials said.
John Solomon breaks an awful lot of big stories. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 19, 2004 9:54 PM
According to the AP, in addition to the documents that "inadvertently" ended up in his portfolio, he was also "sticking them in his jacket and pants."
Priceless!
Posted by: David Hill, The Bronx at July 19, 2004 10:32 PMOK, first it's John Kerry foreign policy adviser Joe Wilson, now it's Kerry foreign policy advisor Sandy Berger who appears to have problems staying on the straight and narrow. At this rate -- unless the senator is somehow attempting to have his foreign policy team to conduct a first-hand investigation of the Abu Ghirab prison -- Teresa is going to end up as the most senior foreign policy expert on staff who can get an FBI clearance.
Posted by: John at July 19, 2004 11:14 PMThis type of thing should hurt Kerry (and Clinton). But knowing the media, and watching how they couldn't be bothered to cover Wilson's credibility meltdown the past two weeks, I'm not holding my breathe.
Posted by: AWW at July 19, 2004 11:52 PMI'm thinking this one makes the top ten blog comments, ever :
“Hey, buddy, is that a highly classified millennium terrorist report in your pants or are you just happy to be testifying before the 9/11 commission?”
Posted by: joe shropshire at July 20, 2004 12:22 AMJust this morning, NPR interviewed the Kerry Campaign's adviser on intelligence issues, wait for it, Stansfield Turner. Is there anyone working for the campaign who doesn't think that the US is a bigger threat to the world than the world is to us.
Posted by: David Cohen at July 20, 2004 7:35 AMThey tapped Turner for his expertise in dealing with Iran...
Posted by: oj at July 20, 2004 7:39 AMWere they Dockers? We may never know the whole truth about this sordid affair....
Anyway, Debka has a creative take on it. Read with caution.
Posted by: Barry Meislin at July 20, 2004 9:28 AMBest I've heard in a while: "It's a relief to see the Clinton administration getting into trouble for putting things into their pants."
Posted by: mike earl at July 20, 2004 10:47 AMUnintentional, I am sure, but the John Solomon headline suggests that his pants and jacket weren't the only places he was stashing classified information.
Posted by: Jason Johnson at July 20, 2004 12:35 PMIt's been reported in several places that Berger (and his lawyer) admitted that Berger stuffed some documents in his socks.
In his _socks_.
You know, if that pans out, that blows the spin that this was "inadvertent" right out of the water. (1) How can you "inadvertently" stuff big pieces of paper in your socks? (2) More to the point, I worked with classified documents 40 hours (sometimes more) a week for seven years. Under modern systems of document management, and under well-designed procedures for securing documents, it is almost impossible to _inadvertently_ remove documents from a repository; they're just too carefully tracked by electronic and other means. (The repository I worked in had a barcoding system in which _every_ document was assigned its own unique barcode, by which it was tracked; also, all documents of Secret classification and above were assigned discrete copy numbers for additional tracking, and the recipients of those documents were required to sign paper receipts in addition to having their custody of documents recorded in the system.)
Posted by: Joe at July 20, 2004 6:30 PMThis is treason. Berger should be shot and any democrat who defends him is unfit for public office.
Posted by: MarkD at July 20, 2004 7:46 PMAgree with Mark D (except I'd say life in prison vs. death penalty) but given the major media's complete disregard and/or spinning away the significance of this story not much will probably happen.
Posted by: AWW at July 20, 2004 8:14 PM