Remember Sandy Berger?
You remember Sandy Berger, right? The former national security adviser to the Clinton administration who was caught stealing classified documents from the National Archives? It looks like he'll be pleading guilty soon.
I've always been amazed at how little coverage this story has gotten. Many politicians, for reasons both genuine and partisan, have put an incredible amount of emphasis on finding out what went wrong in our nation's security measures that allowed 9/11 to happen. The documents Berger stole were directly related to that very topic and yet the media has devoted very little coverage to the story.
For months upon months we heard endless stories about President Bush and his service in the Texas Air National Guard, yet Sandy Berger and his stolen documents were largely forgotten about just weeks after the story broke. Why? Can anyone imagine another scenario other than a blatant cover-up that would prompt Berger to steal documents from the National Archives? And, given that reality, isn't the idea of a former Presidential administration covering up facts during an investigation into the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil worth of some big-time media coverage?
This thing is like Watergate all over again, yet its barely even registered enough attention to get a cliched "-gate" nickname.
"Honest mistake" my white ass. Berger is taking one for the Clinton team. Those documents pointed to something big. Big enough to convince a former cabinet member that jail time and a heavy fine is an acceptable price to pay for making it all go away.
(via Michelle Malkin)
Update:
Turns out Berger won't be serving any prison time. He'll get a fine and a three year suspension of his security clearance.
Not bad for an act tantamount to treason during a time of war.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former national security adviser Sandy Berger will plead guilty to taking classified material from the National Archives, a misdemeanor, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Berger is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Friday, said Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra.
The charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
The former Clinton administration official previously acknowledged he removed from the National Archives copies of documents about the government's anti-terror efforts and notes that he took on those documents.
He said he was reviewing the materials to help determine which Clinton administration documents to provide to the independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
He called the episode "an honest mistake," and denied criminal wrongdoing.
I've always been amazed at how little coverage this story has gotten. Many politicians, for reasons both genuine and partisan, have put an incredible amount of emphasis on finding out what went wrong in our nation's security measures that allowed 9/11 to happen. The documents Berger stole were directly related to that very topic and yet the media has devoted very little coverage to the story.
For months upon months we heard endless stories about President Bush and his service in the Texas Air National Guard, yet Sandy Berger and his stolen documents were largely forgotten about just weeks after the story broke. Why? Can anyone imagine another scenario other than a blatant cover-up that would prompt Berger to steal documents from the National Archives? And, given that reality, isn't the idea of a former Presidential administration covering up facts during an investigation into the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil worth of some big-time media coverage?
This thing is like Watergate all over again, yet its barely even registered enough attention to get a cliched "-gate" nickname.
"Honest mistake" my white ass. Berger is taking one for the Clinton team. Those documents pointed to something big. Big enough to convince a former cabinet member that jail time and a heavy fine is an acceptable price to pay for making it all go away.
(via Michelle Malkin)
Update:
Turns out Berger won't be serving any prison time. He'll get a fine and a three year suspension of his security clearance.
Not bad for an act tantamount to treason during a time of war.
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