http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/19/national1954EDT0705.DTL


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.

"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.

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.

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.

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," Breuer said.

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 at one of the commission's public hearings about the
Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism. The former
president answered the panel's questions at a private meeting.

The former national security adviser himself had ordered his
anti-terror czar Richard Clarke in early 2000 to write the
after-action report and has spoken publicly about how the review
brought to the forefront the realization that al-Qaida had reached
America's shores and required more attention.

Berger testified that during the millennium period, "we thwarted
threats and I do believe it was important to bring the principals
together on a frequent basis" to consider terror threats more
regularly.

The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the
report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton
administration, officials and lawyers say. The Archives 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 focus of the current criminal probe, officials and lawyers said.

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 Archives staff
specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others
disappeared, Archives officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey
to report the disappearance.

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.

He retained counsel, and in January the FBI executed search warrants
of a safe at Berger's home as well as his business office where he
found some of the documents. Agents also failed to locate the missing
documents.

Justice Department officials have told the Sept. 11 commission of the
Berger incident and the nature of the documents in case commissioners
wanted more information, officials said. The commission is expected to
release its final report Thursday.

Congressional intelligence committees, however, have not been formally
notified.

"The House Intelligence Committee has not been informed on the loss or
theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives,
but we will follow up and get the information that is appropriate for
the committee to have," the committee said Monday in a statement. "And
if it has occurred, we should be informed. If there has been delay in
getting the information to the committee we need to know why."

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 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 about to enter into a
plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government
secrets when the pardon was granted.





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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.

"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.

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.

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.

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," Breuer said.

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 at one of the commission's public hearings about the
Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism. The former
president answered the panel's questions at a private meeting.

The former national security adviser himself had ordered his
anti-terror czar Richard Clarke in early 2000 to write the
after-action report and has spoken publicly about how the review
brought to the forefront the realization that al-Qaida had reached
America's shores and required more attention.

Berger testified that during the millennium period, "we thwarted
threats and I do believe it was important to bring the principals
together on a frequent basis" to consider terror threats more
regularly.

The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the
report as it was evolving and being refined by the Clinton
administration, officials and lawyers say. The Archives 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 focus of the current criminal probe, officials and lawyers said.

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 Archives staff
specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others
disappeared, Archives officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey
to report the disappearance.

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.

He retained counsel, and in January the FBI executed search warrants
of a safe at Berger's home as well as his business office where he
found some of the documents. Agents also failed to locate the missing
documents.

Justice Department officials have told the Sept. 11 commission of the
Berger incident and the nature of the documents in case commissioners
wanted more information, officials said. The commission is expected to
release its final report Thursday.

Congressional intelligence committees, however, have not been formally
notified.

"The House Intelligence Committee has not been informed on the loss or
theft of any classified intelligence information from the Archives,
but we will follow up and get the information that is appropriate for
the committee to have," the committee said Monday in a statement. "And
if it has occurred, we should be informed. If there has been delay in
getting the information to the committee we need to know why."

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 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 about to enter into a
plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government
secrets when the pardon was granted.





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