Clinton Aide Took Classified Material for 9/11 report prep

I'm posting four versions of the same story, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and the fourth by FOX News. The Fox news versions illustrates the political bias of FOX News. The Times and the Post did not included unsubstantiated claims by an unnamed source that Berger hid papers in his clothing. Nor did they try to link Berger's acts to the Kerry-Edwards campaign as FOX did. Interesting that this investigation, which began in February) was leaked to the press just as the 9/11 Commission Report is to be released. Editors have reported they were contacted by at least three Bush administration staff to promote the leak. ---BBB
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July 20, 2004 - New York Times
Clinton Aide Took Classified Material
By MARK GLASSMAN

WASHINGTON, July 19 - President Bill Clinton's national security adviser, Samuel R. Berger, removed classified security documents from the National Archives while vetting them in preparation for testimony before the Sept. 11 commission and has become the subject of a criminal investigation, his lawyer said Monday night.

Mr. Berger removed at least two versions of a memorandum assessing how the government handled intelligence and security issues before the millennium celebrations in 1999, his lawyer, Lanny A. Breuer, said. He also removed notes he took about classified documents, the lawyer said.

"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 9/11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the archives," Mr. Berger said in a statement.

He said, "I deeply regret the sloppiness involved," and added that he had not intended to keep any document from the commission. The investigation was first reported by The Associated Press.

Mr. Berger returned all of the documents and notes to the archives in October, within a week of his learning they were missing, his lawyers said.

Federal agents investigated Mr. Berger's handling of the materials, a senior government official said this evening. The official said the inquiry's results were being reviewed Justice Department prosecutor, who will decide whether any laws were broken.
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FBI Probes Berger for Document Removal
Former Clinton Aide Inadvertently Took Papers From Archives, His Attorney Says
By Susan Schmidt and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 20, 2004; Page A02

The FBI is investigating Clinton administration national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger's removal of classified documents from the National Archives, attorneys for Berger confirmed last night.

Berger inadvertently took copies of several versions of an after-action memo on the millennium bombing plot from the Archives last fall, said his attorney Lanny Breuer. The lawyer said one or more of the copies were then inadvertently discarded.

The inspector general of the Archives began an investigation last October and turned it over to the FBI in January. FBI agents searched Berger's office and home safe, and the probe is continuing, Breuer said.

Berger spent three days at the Archives, on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, last summer and fall examining documents to provide the Clinton administration's responses to inquiries from the presidential commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The commission's final report is slated for release Thursday.

"There was huge pressure to review the documents quickly for claims of executive privilege and responsiveness," Breuer said. Berger reviewed copies of thousands of documents on July 18, Sept. 2 and Oct. 2, 2003, Breuer said. Later in October, the Archives notified Berger that documents were missing.

Berger discovered several versions of the classified memo in a leather portfolio he had taken to the Archives, his attorney said. He returned them and papers on which he had taken notes about materials he had reviewed. Those notes, Breuer said, were not supposed to have been removed from the Archives without review by employees there. Berger's actions, said Breuer, were the result of "sloppiness" and were unintentional.

One or more missing versions of the 15-page memo could not be located among Berger's possessions, and he thinks he probably discarded the papers, Breuer said.

Breuer said FBI agents have not interviewed Berger, although he has offered to cooperate. Breuer said agents did not take anything from Berger's safe, and took from his office a few index cards bearing notes from meetings on the Middle East that Berger made at Camp David.

One Sept. 11 commission member reached last night was not aware of the Berger investigation. A senior commission official said the panel has no comment on the probe.

The commission's staff was told in general about the investigation but did not view the documents as crucial, said sources close to the issue who declined to be identified because of the criminal investigation.

The Associated Press first reported late yesterday that the FBI was looking into Berger's handling of classified documents. Federal laws prohibit unauthorized release or removal of classified documents.

Breuer said the Justice Department and the FBI have informed him that Berger is the subject of a criminal probe but not a target.

In his testimony before the Sept. 11 commission in March, Berger said he had ordered the after-action review of the millennium threat and that the report contained 29 recommendations, most of which were implemented subject to funding. He also testified that the review led President Bill Clinton to request $300 million from Congress, primarily for domestic security programs, and to reallocate $79 million within the CIA's budget to counterterrorism.

The missing copies, according to Breuer and their author, Richard A. Clarke, the counterterrorism chief in the Clinton administration and early in President Bush's administration, were versions of after-action reports recommending changes following threats of terrorism as 1999 turned to 2000. Clarke said he prepared about two dozen ideas for countering terrorist threats. The recommendations were circulated among Cabinet agencies, and various versions of the memo contained additions and refinements, Clarke said last night.

Breuer said that Clarke had prepared a "tough review" and that the document was something of a critical assessment of what agencies did well and what they failed to do in the face of the millennium threat.

Clarke said it is illogical to assume Berger would have sought to hide versions of the memo, because "everybody in town had copies of these things." He said he could not recall most of the recommendations, but one that he did remember -- having FBI field offices send wiretap material to Washington for translation instead of translating it locally -- still has not been accomplished.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice testified to the Sept. 11 panel that she did not recall being briefed on the report during the transition period to the Bush administration, and she said she did not read it until after the Sept. 11 attacks, when Vice President Cheney distributed it.

Rice characterized the report as concluding that Ahmed Ressam, later convicted in a plan to blow up Los Angeles International Airport, was caught by chance. "I think it actually wasn't by chance, which was Washington's view of it," Rice testified. "It was because a very alert customs agent" who was suspicious of Ressam as he attempted to cross into Washington state from Canada, she said.

Researcher Karl Evanzz contributed to this report.
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Clinton adviser probed about removing classified terror memos
By Kevin Johnson and Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON ?- Samuel Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser, is the focus of a criminal investigation into whether he improperly removed notes and classified documents from the National Archives during preparations for hearings by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

Berger said he inadvertently took some documents from the archives but was not trying to withhold information from the commission. His lawyers said he was cooperating with authorities. Three government officials who have been briefed on the investigation said Berger had removed handwritten notes and classified documents from a private room at the National Archives where he was preparing for his March 24 testimony. The officials declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

Two of the officials said Berger was reportedly seen stuffing some of the material into his clothing.

The FBI has conducted searches of Berger's home and office. But some of the documents he reviewed are still missing, the officials said. Some of those documents involved the Clinton administration's handling of intelligence surrounding terrorist plots to disrupt millennium celebrations in 1999 and identification of America's vulnerabilities at airports and seaports.

"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved but 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 Monday night. 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, he said, he could not locate two or three copies of the millennium terror report.

"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. The archives is believed to have copies of some of the missing documents.

The government officials said the investigation was set in motion by National Archives employees who reportedly witnessed Berger's actions in the room.

David Gergen, who was an adviser to Clinton and worked with Berger for a time in the White House, said Tuesday, "I think it's more innocent than it looks."

Appearing on NBC's Today show, Gergen said, "I have known Sandy Berger for a long time. He would never do anything to compromise the security of the United States." Gergen said he thought that "it is suspicious" that word of the investigation of Berger would emerge just as the Sept. 11 commission is about to release its report, since "this investigation started months ago."

The revelation about Berger, first reported by the Associated Press, comes days before the commission releases its final report, which has become a political issue as both parties try to use its presumed findings to their advantage. Commission member Jamie Gorelick said the panel was informed about the investigation Monday.

Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the Sept. 11 commission, said Tuesday the Berger investigation will not impact the panel's work in any way. The 10-member bipartisan panel releases its final report on Thursday.

"This is a matter between the government and an individual," he said. "They were not our documents, and we believe we have access to all the materials we need to see to do our report."

Government and congressional officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe involves classified materials, said no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.

One of Berger's lawyers, Lanny Breuer, said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified documents, not originals.

The Archives, which is the nation's repository for presidential papers, is believed to have copies of some of the missing documents.

Berger was allowed to take handwritten notes. He knew that taking his own notes out of the secure reading room violated archives procedures. But, Breuer said, "I do not believe he acted illegally at all. He acted lawfully but admittedly sloppily."

Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser from 1997-2001 and has been advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
Contributing: Mimi Hall and the Associated Press
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Sandy Berger Probed Over Terror Memos
FOX News
Tuesday, July 20, 2004

WASHINGTON ?- Former President Clinton's national security adviser is under criminal investigation for taking highly classified terrorism documents that should have been turned over to the independent commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, FOX News has confirmed.

Sandy Berger (search) is under scrutiny by the Justice Department (search) following the disappearance of documents he was reviewing at the National Archives.

Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (search) agents armed with warrants after the former Clinton adviser voluntarily returned some sensitive documents to the National Archives (search) 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 Qaeda terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing, officials and lawyers said. Officials said the missing documents also identified America's terror vulnerabilities at airports to seaports.

Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket, pants and socks, 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.

There are laws strictly governing the handling of classified information, including prohibiting unauthorized removal or release of such information.

Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys, said his client had offered to cooperate fully with the investigation but had not yet been interviewed by the FBI or prosecutors.

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 Sept. 11 commission.

Deputy Attorney General James Comey told reporters Tuesday he could not comment on the Berger investigation but did address the general issue of mishandling classified documents.

"As a general matter, we take issues of classified information very seriously," Comey said in response to a reporter's question about the Berger bind, adding that the department has prosecuted and sought administrative sanctions against people for mishandling classified information.

"It's our lifeblood, those secrets," Comey continued. "It's against the law for anyone to intentionally mishandle classified documents either by taking it to give to somebody else or by mishandling it in a way that is outside the government regulations."

'Inadvertent' Action?

The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees said they believed they witnessed Berger placing documents in his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers and that some documents were missing.

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 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."

Breuer said Berger believed he was looking at copies of the classified documents, not originals.

Government and congressional officials said no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.

Although lawmakers didn't want to make a judgment call on Berger's fate until all the facts are known, they agreed that the situation doesn't look good for Berger, or even for Kerry.

"There's an ethic here -- that is of strict discipline, of not letting the fact you're working on a political campaign start to color your actions when it comes to national security," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told FOX News on Tuesday.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., called the news "surprising" and said that "unless we learn otherwise, I have to assume that what Sandy said was right -- that any removal of documents was inadvertent. But it is serious."

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said, "we need more information -- obviously the timing of it is not good" for Kerry.

"From now on, until the election, everything like this will have a spotlight put on it, examined very carefully," Lott continued.

More 'Innocent Than It Looks?'

David Gergen, who was an adviser to Clinton and worked with Berger for a time in the White House, said Tuesday, "I think it's more innocent than it looks."

"I have known Sandy Berger for a long time," Gergen said in a television interview. "He would never do anything to compromise the security of the United States." Gergen said he thought that "it is suspicious" that word of the investigation of Berger would emerge just as the Sept. 11 commission is about to release its report, since "this investigation started months ago."

Berger testified publicly at one of the commission's hearings about the Clinton administration's approach to fighting terrorism.

Berger had ordered his counterterrorism adviser, 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 Qaeda had reached America's shores and required more attention.

The missing documents involve two or three draft versions of the report as it was being refined by the Clinton administration. 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 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 said Archive staff specially marked the documents and when the new copy and others disappeared, Archive officials called Clinton attorney Bruce Lindsey.

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.

FOX News' Major Garrett, Liza Porteus, Anna Stolley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.