By the way..WSJ reports, Sandy Berger cleared of withholding material from 9/11

[HighandOutside]

commision...Sigh, I suppose CNN will simply ignore this. The balloons are much to important of a topic.

By SCOT J. PALTROW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 30, 2004; Page A6

Officials looking into the removal of classified documents from the National Archives by former Clinton National Security Adviser Samuel Berger say no original materials are missing and nothing Mr. Berger reviewed was withheld from the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.


http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109114313710778456,0...

[SFL Cat]

How about a link to a free site?!

[CamEdwards]

thank goodness no original copies are missing.

of course, that doesn't mean the law wasn't broken.

[GrantDawg]

thank goodness no original copies are missing.

of course, that doesn't mean the law wasn't broken.
No, he admittly broke the law by leaving with the copies. I doubt they'll be any prosectution, though. He should at least lose any security clearances he may still have, and never be allowed to regain them.

[HighandOutside]

He may have broken a law, but it puts to rest the spin that he stole documents to protect Clinton. It was this spin that Delay, Hastert and others were yelling about the week before the convention. My guess is that they knew their accusations were false and that they were trying to distract attention from the Democrats in the run up to the convention and the 9/11 report.

[Ksyrup]

He may have broken a law, but it puts to rest the spin that he stole documents to protect Clinton. It was this spin that Delay, Hastert and others were yelling about the week before the convention. My guess is that they knew their accusations were false and that they were trying to distract attention from the Democrats in the run up to the convention and the 9/11 report.
Did it ever occur to you that when one person steals documents, destroys them, and then tells you to take his word for it that they weren't originals or they weren't destroyed to protect anybody, that person might have a reason to lie? And that others would undoubtedly suggest another motive, given the circumstances? Since only one person knew what he took and what he did with it, how exactly did anyone else know they were making "false accusations?"

I don't really care why he did it. The fact that he did it at all is what is bothersome to me.

At least the left is being consistent in its defense of this guy and Clinton. We went from "Hey, all he did was lie about a blowjob!", to "Hey, all he did was steal and destroy some non-original archived materials!" Nice.

[CamEdwards]

I actually thought the (implied) spin was that the documents were taken and given to the Kerry campaign, especially since they dealt with security at seaports and the like, and Kerry gave a speech specifically devoted to that back during the primaries.

[Ksyrup]

I guess since all I did was read the original article someone posted here, I didn't even hear the spin. I simply thought this guy got caught stealing materials from the national archive, and given his position in the Clinton Administration and the testimony to be given before the 9/11 panel, there was some concern (legitimate, I would think) as to what he took. And that concern was being expressed by law enforcement, not just Republicans.

[HighandOutside]

Yep, kinda like the reaction of many Republicans to Valerie Plame being exposed as an uncover CIA agent..."hey she is only a low level (supposedly) CIA agent, and everyone knew about her status anyways. No big deal."

Amazing that W hasn't been able to find out who in his adminstration leaked her identity. I'm quite confident he is looking really hard, though.

[HighandOutside]

Hastert and Delay's comments were at the very least reckless and inapppropriate. At worst they were a calculated and cynical attempt to divert attention away from the 9/11 commision findings since the probe has been going on for more than a year now. I find it strange there have not been any leaks regarding the Plame investigation...but more on that later, I'm sure.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_07_18.php#003183
http://www.hillnews.com/sweet/072204.aspx

[GrantDawg]

Hastert and Delay's comments were at the very least reckless and inapppropriate. At worst they were a calculated and cynical attempt to divert attention away from the 9/11 commision findings since the probe has been going on for more than a year now. I find it strange there have not been any leaks regarding the Plame investigation...but more on that later, I'm sure.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_07_18.php#003183
http://www.hillnews.com/sweet/072204.aspx
Vince Scully says "High and outside, way too the left of the plate." :)

[Leonidas]

Another member of the political elite allowed to bypass the same laws I would probably go to jail for after being called a traitor on the nightly news. What a country. For those left wingers who complained about the timing of the announcement of all this, I'd still like to know why it was ever covered up in the first place

OK, stupid rhetorical question, member of political elite not held accountable again until another member of the political elite found political advantage in outing first member of political elite. Sorry, just venting out loud here.

[Flasch186]

didnt a guy at Los aLamos, ahem, many people at los alamos do far worse and get nothing...this is a non-issue. If he broke a law I was the first to say string him up, since he didnt let it go.

[HomerJSimpson]

Sandy Berger is going to plea guilty to misdomenor charges surrounding this case (according to CNN).

[Bubba Wheels]

Is that a document you have in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

[HomerJSimpson]

And speaking of former Clinton cronies....I was watching a documentary on Waco this afternoon. Webster Hubble really was Jabba the Hutt, wasn't he? When he was testifying before congress, it looked like he could unhinge his mouth and swallow a cow. I kept expecting them to pan out to show the dancing girl in a bikini chained to him.