Oh, Sandy... So much for the claim...

William Haskins · Dec 20, 2006

... that they accidentally ended up in his socks and down his pants.

what a weasel.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061220/D8M4R7DO0.html

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger removed classified documents from the National Archives in 2003 and hid them under a construction trailer, the Archives inspector general reported Wednesday.

The report was issued more than a year after Berger pleaded guilty and received a criminal sentence for removal of the documents.

Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he said it was possible he threw them in his office trash.

<snip>

"Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)."

Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.

SpookyWriter · Dec 20, 2006

I don't understand the problem. He took archived documents out of the building and hid them on the National Archives grounds. So they never really left the vicinity. Or maybe he's lying about that and copied them to give his KGB handlers. I know the Russians are always interested in outdated technology. Maybe that's it?

TheGaffer · Dec 21, 2006

Any mild defense I have offered of Sandy Berger in the past, I hereby withdraw. The only thin thread I can hang onto is that he took copies rather than originals, and the 9/11 Commission also had copies, too.

What a g*****ed moron.

William Haskins · Jan 13, 2007

new wrinkle in sandy's pants:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Times]One incident is particularly suggestive. By his fourth and final visit to review documents and prepare for testimony before the 9/11 Commission, the Archives staff had grown suspicious of how Mr. Berger was handling the documents, so they numbered each one he was given in pencil on the back of the document. When one of them--No. 217--was apparently removed from the files by Mr. Berger, the staff reprinted a copy and replaced it for his review. According to the report, Mr. Berger then proceeded to slip the second copy "under his portfolio also." In other words, he stole the same document twice.

[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Times]http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009522[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Times]
[/FONT][/FONT]

tourdeforce · Jan 13, 2007

This really is a mind-boggling 'what was he thinking" incident.

Besides the fact that it was wrong in the first place (but that has never stopped anyone before), the downside of getting caught versus the value that he would get from the matter is so out of balance that you really have to wonder why he threw away his reputation.

William Haskins · Jan 13, 2007

tourdeforce said:
Besides the fact that it was wrong in the first place (but that has never stopped anyone before), the downside of getting caught versus the value that he would get from the matter is so out of balance that you really have to wonder why he threw away his reputation.

indeed.

as partisan as it might sound, it's hard to shake the feeling that he was attempting to get rid of some evidence he'd rather not have scrutinized by the 9-11 commission. which begs the question as to whether he was acting on his own concerns or was charged with doing so based on the level of his clearance by someone from the clinton administration with something to lose.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 13, 2007

Documents

William Haskins said:
... that they accidentally ended up in his socks and down his pants.

what a weasel.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061220/D8M4R7DO0.html

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger removed classified documents from the National Archives in 2003 and hid them under a construction trailer, the Archives inspector general reported Wednesday.

The report was issued more than a year after Berger pleaded guilty and received a criminal sentence for removal of the documents.

Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he said it was possible he threw them in his office trash.

<snip>

"Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)."

Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.

Good Lord, who cares? How small must a life be to spend it on things like this?

William Haskins · Jan 13, 2007

an infinitesimal speck of a life, i imagine, james.

please accept my apologies for posting the thread and for the ripple of interruption it obviously caused in your epic existence.

Dawno · Jan 13, 2007

One doesn't have to "care" to be interested in current events. What seems irrelevant or insignificant to some is part of a landscape of information. Pull back from this particular weed and see the entire swamp of information.

Reading the posts here has helped me understand the POV of people who come from different perspectives than my own. I find it of value, others may also feel the same.

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Jan 13, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
Good Lord, who cares? How small must a life be to spend it on things like this?

So... uh... it's okay to steal documents from the National Archives?

tourdeforce · Jan 13, 2007

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:
So... uh... it's okay to steal documents from the National Archives?

Isn't there some kind of rule that if an item isn't clearly marked with a price, they have to give it to you for free?

whistlelock · Jan 13, 2007

Well, I say we burn him at the stake. The dork.

dclary · Jan 13, 2007

Let's rephrase that. I certainly do NOT need "burn dorks at the stake" to become common law.

Oh, Sandy... So much for the claim...

William Haskins

poet

SpookyWriter

TheGaffer

Docking Bay 94

William Haskins

poet

tourdeforce

William Haskins

poet

Jamesaritchie

William Haskins

poet

Dawno

Shiny!

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?

tourdeforce

whistlelock

Whiskey Rebel

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary