Sandy Berger temporarily stashed the classified documents he lifted from the National Archives under a nearby construction trailer, according to a Washington Times report.
Mr. Berger, who served as national security adviser under President Clinton from 1997 to 2000, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. The material included documents outlining the government's knowledge of terrorist threats in the United States during the 2000 New Year's celebration.
He was fined $50,000 by a federal judge, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and barred from access to classified material for three years. The top Clinton adviser had faced a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, but a plea agreement in the case reduced the fine and kept him out of jail.
The removal occurred while Mr. Berger was preparing to testify before the September 11 commission investigating intelligence and security failures, raising questions about whether he was attempting to cover up the Clinton administration's counterterrorism policies and actions.
Mr. Berger, with authorization from Mr. Clinton, also was reviewing National Security Council documents on Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, Sudan and related presidential correspondence to prepare for testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees.
In his televised testimony to the September 11 commission, Mr. Berger said the Clinton administration's "sustained attention" to terrorist threats and "rigorous actions" had foiled a terrorist threat in December 1999 to bomb airports in the United States.
But Attorney General John Ashcroft told the commission that he saw some of the documents that had turned up missing from the Archives and that the plot was stopped with "luck playing a major role."
Republicans had apparently hoped for an investigation of the matter.
In a letter to the House Government Reform Committee, the lawmakers asked Chairman Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican, to investigate whether there was criminal misconduct in the removal of the classified documents by the Clinton administration official.
Democrats will assume control of Congress next month, and the request for an investigation is expected to be shelved.
Ho hum. Business as usual.
Comments