Clinton Adviser Berger Cleared of Document Theft

July 30, 2004 3:30 PM

Clinton Adviser Berger Cleared of Document Theft Oh. By the way...President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger -- who'd been accused of stealing classified material from the National Archives -- has been cleared of all wrongdoing.
posted by Postroad (27 comments total)

Methinks this won't get quite as much press as the accusation. I mean, he probably WANTED to steal them, right? That is good enough for me.
posted by shotsy at 3:35 PM on July 30, 2004

Not verifiably true yet. Not enough information. News?
posted by hama7 at 3:48 PM on July 30, 2004

Of course it won't satisfy those set on persecuting him for a crime it appears he didn't commit.

But hey, don't let reality spoil your joyous vision of corruption on the other side. Even if he had done it, and he didn't, it would have only offset a tiny fraction of the criminal actions undertaken by the Bush regime.
posted by fenriq at 3:52 PM on July 30, 2004

Not verifiably true yet. Not enough information. News?

So he's automatically guilty until we can prove a negative? What the fuck ever, you're getting less fun by the day, as trolls go. I think we need some new ones.
posted by Space Coyote at 4:02 PM on July 30, 2004

Not verifiably true yet. Not enough information.

just like those wmd's when bush decided to attack irak!!!1

/troll to your troll
posted by iamck at 4:12 PM on July 30, 2004

I hope we find out whether he did it or not soon. the election hangs in the balance.
posted by mcsweetie at 4:13 PM on July 30, 2004

Not verifiably true yet. Not enough information. News?

The National Archives and the Justice Department have concluded nothing is missing and nothing in the Clinton administration's record was withheld from the 9-11 Commission.


The Wall Street Journal reports archives staff have accounted for all classified documents Berger looked at.

Next?

ooh, wait!

--here it is:

The Race Is On: An Analysis of the Post-Convention Zogby Poll By John Zogby and Christopher Conroy

The ugly details-

Among Hispanic Voters:
Kerry 69%
Bush 19%

Among Southern Voters:
Kerry 48%
Bush 46%

Viewed Favorably in the South:
Kerry 55%
Bush 55%

Bush's Job Performance in the South: 44%

US Headed in the Right Direction in the South: 43%

Among Young Voters (18-29) :
Kerry 53%
Bush 33%

Among Single Voters:
Kerry 69%
Bush 19%

In the Red States:
Kerry 46%
Bush 48%

In the Blue States:
Kerry 50%
Bush 38%

Among People Who Did Not Vote in 2000:
Kerry 50%
Bush 25%
posted by y2karl at 4:16 PM on July 30, 2004

those are great numbers for Kerry--bounce, baby bounce!

so has Shelby been cleared yet?
posted by amberglow at 4:30 PM on July 30, 2004

y2karl -

Interesting read, but remember that good ole' Mike Dukakis had something like a 15% lead coming out of the Democratic convention back in 1988 and then lost it all between then and November.

I'm not a big Bush fan, but post-convention 'bounce' is notoriously weak.
posted by tgrundke at 4:31 PM on July 30, 2004

This only deals with the charge that Berger had withheld documents from the 9/11 Commission, a charge I wasn't even aware of. However, he is still under investigation for removing top secret documents from the federal archives.

And yes, Sen. Shelby has for all practical purposes been cleared. When an investigation of a Senator or Representative is turned over to the ethics committee without charges being brought that usually means that no evidence was found of wrongdoing.
posted by republican at 4:38 PM on July 30, 2004

so why don't they just say that, republican?
posted by amberglow at 5:07 PM on July 30, 2004

so why don't they just say that, republican?

I wouldn't expect them to say anything until the ethics committee concludes its investigation.

Also, it now appears that Berger hasn't been cleared of anything, including the charge of withholding documents from the 9/11 commission:

"In spite of what the Wall Street Journal said, the National Archives really isn't commenting on this case because it's under investigation", said Susan Cooper, spokeswoman for the Archives
posted by republican at 5:18 PM on July 30, 2004

"In spite of what the Wall Street Journal said, the National Archives really isn't commenting on this case because it's under investigation", said Susan Cooper, spokeswoman for the Archives...

The only source I've found for that quote is extremely unreliable.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 5:25 PM on July 30, 2004

Well, once this matter is settled and Mr. Berger is cleared, I'm sure all the conservative media sites will immediately issue retractions and apologize.

*cough*
posted by RylandDotNet at 5:31 PM on July 30, 2004

Well, once this matter is settled and Mr. Berger is cleared, I'm sure all the conservative media sites will immediately issue retractions and apologize.

Just as soon as Liberal media sites admit now that Joe Wilson is a liar.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 6:00 PM on July 30, 2004

Just as soon as Liberal media sites admit now that Joe Wilson is a liar.

Which, apparently, seems to make otherwise-intelligent people somehow believe that outing a covert CIA operative he was married to somehow isn't a crime anymore.

How we doing on that investigation, by the way?
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:09 PM on July 30, 2004

So, why aren't you bringing up the President's National Guard service records in your retorts anymore, S@L ?
posted by y2karl at 6:11 PM on July 30, 2004

It isn't an eye for an eye and a truth for a truth. If Berger had done the crime then I'd be right there on the parapets calling for his head. He didn't do it so let it go.

I guess I need to read up on the whole Joe Wilson thing before I say anything that might be able to be twisted by the resident troll patrol.

Anybody got a good site to get up to speed on it?
posted by fenriq at 6:43 PM on July 30, 2004

Wait, this can't be true...it wasn't splashed at the top of Drudge in 30-pt type!
posted by rushmc at 6:50 PM on July 30, 2004

I don't see anything about this at the link above. Has the article been removed?
posted by cookie-k at 7:06 PM on July 30, 2004

Hmmm... now it's here for whatever reason.

Ona somewhat unrelated note:

Another Iraq-al Qaeda link falls (libruhl NY Times registration req'd)
posted by destro at 8:23 PM on July 30, 2004

the original article is in the Wall Street Journal here, if anybody has access
posted by destro at 8:31 PM on July 30, 2004

hes a gulity and thats that.
posted by clavdivs at 9:35 PM on July 30, 2004

Joe Wilson is a liar.

wait wait wait... Bush cheerleaders complaining about... people lying? it's pretty funny actually. BwahahahaFilter? ah, fond memories of those evil aluminum tubes...

anyway: I really love it how right-wingers endorse smear campaigns to the point that it's OK to out 'enemy' CIA operatives -- which, of course, is a federal felony. you're a dam lib'rul? we're gonna out your undercover ass

restore honor & dignity, indeed

*frogmarches SteveLinnwood out of the thread*
posted by matteo at 1:06 AM on July 31, 2004

hes a gulity and thats that.

Ain't the American system grand?
posted by rushmc at 3:09 AM on July 31, 2004

pray tell, what is the "American system"?

hmmmm?
posted by clavdivs at 8:32 PM on August 1, 2004

The only fair thing would be to "out" the rest of the CIA, and shut it down.
posted by thirteen at 8:33 AM on August 2, 2004