| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
18 Aug 2004 08:18:52 PM |
| Object: |
Bush's top secret mission in 1972 |
Bush's top secret mission in 1972
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http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=16560
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| User: "Hanoi Jane Fonda" |
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| Title: Clinton adviser probed for taking classified terror memos |
19 Aug 2004 12:15:50 AM |
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Clinton adviser probed for taking classified terror memos
The Associated Press
July 20, 2004, 7:09 AM EDT
WASHINGTON -- Sandy Berger, former President Clinton's national
security adviser, is under criminal investigation by the Justice
Department after highly classified terrorism documents disappeared
while he was reviewing what should be turned over to the Sept. 11
commission.
Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI agents
armed with warrants after the former Clinton adviser voluntarily
returned some sensitive documents to the National Archives and
admitted he also removed handwritten notes he had made while reviewing
the sensitive documents.
However, 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, officials and
lawyers told The Associated Press.
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the
handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket and pants, and also
inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather
portfolio.
"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.
Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys, said his client has offered
to cooperate fully with the investigation but had not yet been
interviewed by the FBI or prosecutors. Berger has been told he is the
subject of the criminal investigation, Breuer 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 investigating the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National
Archives employees told agents they believed they witnessed Berger
place documents in his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton
administration papers and that some documents were then noticed
missing, officials said.
When asked, Berger said he returned some classified documents that he
found in his office and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from
the secure room, but could not locate two or three copies of the
highly classified millennium terror report.
"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of
documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with
requests by the Sept. 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few
documents from the Archives," Berger said.
"When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents
missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few
documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded," he said.
Breuer said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified
documents, not originals.
There are laws strictly governing the handling of classified
information, including prohibiting unauthorized removal or release of
such information.
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.
The officials said the missing documents were highly classified, and
included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's
handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of
America's terror vulnerabilities at airports to sea ports.
Berger testified publicly at one of the commission's hearings about
the Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism, while the
former president met in private with the commission to answer
questions.
Berger himself had ordered his anti-terror czar Richard Clarke in
early 2000 to write the after-action report and has publicly spoken
about how the review brought to the forefront the realization that
al-Qaida had reached America's shores and required more attention.
The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the
report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton
administration, according to officials and lawyers. The Archives,
which is the nation's repository for presidential papers, is believed
to have copies of some of the missing documents.
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 focal point of the current criminal probe, according to
officials and lawyers.
Breuer said the Archives staff first raised concerns with Berger
during an Oct. 2 review of documents that at least one copy of the
post-millennium report he had reviewed earlier was missing. Berger was
given a second copy that day, Breuer said.
Officials familiar with the investigation said Archive staff specially
marked the documents and when the new copy and others disappeared,
Archive officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey to raise
concerns.
Berger immediately returned all the notes he had taken, and conducted
a search and located two copies of the classified documents on a messy
desk in his office, Breuer said. An Archives official came to Berger's
home to collect those documents but Berger couldn't locate the other
missing copies, the lawyer said.
Breuer said Berger was allowed to take handwritten notes but also knew
that taking his own notes out of the secure reading room was a
"technical violation of Archive procedures, but it is not all clear to
us this represents a violation of the law."
Justice officials have informed the Sept. 11 commission of the Berger
incident and the nature of the documents in case commissioners had any
concerns, officials said. The commission is expected to release its
final report on Thursday.
Berger is the second high-level Clinton-era official to face
controversy over taking classified information home.
Former CIA Director John Deutch was pardoned by President Clinton just
hours before Clinton left office in 2001 for taking home classified
information and keeping it on unsecured computers at his home during
his time at the CIA and Pentagon. Deutch was just about to enter into
a plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government
secrets when the pardon was granted.
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Liberals Hate America!
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