Berger Cleared of Document Theft

[Beaverhausen]

Clinton Adviser Berger Cleared of Document Theft

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.
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.

Late last year they asked investigators to see if the former national security adviser removed materials during his visits.

Berger's lawyers said his client had inadvertently removed several photocopies of reports, but later returned them.

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=39459

[noahmijo]

1. Good

Now they can shut the hell up about it.

[Fleshdancer]

2. The WSJ reports this on page A6

Hundreds, if not thousands of stories on this and when we FINALLY know the truth, there's barely anything in the media about it. Typical.

[tom_paine]

25. Actually, they're getting better. Normally it would have gone in da Style

section.

Who says we aren't making progress?

[Fleshdancer]

28. HA! I'll go check the public notices section in classifieds section

of my local paper. Who knows what kind of actual news I could find there. :7

[geek tragedy]

3. Gee, do you think wingnut sites like Instapundit

will mention this?

[montanacowboy]

4. did they do a body cavity search?

lol

[leetrisck]

5. I have a feeling he was cleared a long time ago

somebody just decided to smear his reputation. Maybe he'll be able to speak out about it somewhere along the way.

[aquart]

6. What a surprise.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. Hammer this.

Hammer this long and hard. Everywhere. Get loud. Get nasty. Demand investigation of the leak. This was dirty tricks at their basest.

[havocmom]

12. Absolutely! Hammer this. Put it on the sig line of your emails.

Put it on bulletin boards and message boards. Write LTTE and ask, no DEMAND that this gets as prominent a treatment as the ridiculous accusations did!

Get a bullhorn and get this out.

Sandy Berger did nothing wrong. Nothing missing. The junta did not miss anything due to Mr. Berger. If they missed anything, it was their own damned fault because they wanted to miss things.

[Kukesa]

57. I agree.

I've sent the news to EVERYONE I could think of (and then some).

Keep the faith!

[bluestateguy]

8. BOO YAH!!!

And I now I wait for apologies from Foxnews, Rush, Hannity and Savage.

[TOhioLiberal]

9. Do you think they'll stop now?

...hashing, rehashing, bringing it up? <smacks forhead> Of course not! They're neo-cons!

[goforit]

10. Typical Ashcroft.....Shoot first ask questions later!

It would be nice if the Justice Dept. would Publically
apologize for the misunderstanding.

This just shows how inadequate they are in doing their jobs!!!

[Beetwasher]

11. Page "Z" 2,426

Or something like that :eyes:

Gotta love that free and liberal press!

[Imalittleteapot]

13. Great. Now Sandy can get back with Kerry and

beat up on Bush.

I don't look to hearing about this in mainstream media. We must spread the GOOD news.

[fearnobush]

14. Now Kerry can re-hire Burger and totally reverse smear the piss out

of these facists fuks. He can now prove that these people are indeed evil and attach it to their party of fear and hate.

[Beaverhausen]

15. I did hear them say it on CNN morning news

and when I got here to work looked for some kind on link to the story. The KYW one is the only one I found.

[brook]

19. I heard it too.

Then spent quite some time trying to find a source. Came up empty.
Definitely time to push this. How about emailing people like Keith Oberman and Aaron Brown - they don't seem as adverse to the truth as some others in the media?

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. Good Thing The Librul Media's All Over This

LINK

:eyes:

[Rose Siding]

34. A-6 in the WSJ

according to Atrios' site

[Kikosexy2]

17. HEY...

BILL OH REALLY!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!

[leesa]

18. Always the same GOP smear job. Make the false claim in big bold

letters on page A-1 anf, jabber about it nonstep on the teevee, and then after a few weeks of this, print the truth on page A-27. Same old tactic over and over again...and so many Americans keep falling for it over and over again.

[Brotherjohn]

21. Exactly. The minute this hit the wires, USAToday had big, bold letters...

... reading something like:
Berger Under Investigation.

I swear it had the headline impact of another terrorist attack! You'd have thought the world was on fire!

Today, I just scanned USA Today's news and politics pages.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

That's our "liberal" media for ya!

[mom cat]

20. Come back home Sandy. Don't let the smear mongers win.

More dirty tricks are on the way. Let's help them backfire.:dem:

[liberalmuse]

22. Wow, where'd you dig up this?

I'm impressed! Of course we won't hear about this anywhere else.

Here's to Berger, the next director of FOIA!

[librechik]

23. Great timing again, Karl

your fingerprints are all over the Justice Dept. Is that legal?

[noise626]

24. Damn the smear merchants...

...they simply cannot get any smears to stick!!!

Feel for them, folks. Their heads must be exploding by now.

........


Okay, feeling for them period is over. Now the laughter FLOWS!!!

pax
ant
www.noise626.com

[Corkey Mineola]

26. Clinton was cleared of Whitwater wrongdoing BEFORE the election!

A lot of good it did him!
Repugs are not interested in facts or legal findings...

:nopity:

[tom_paine]

27. KICK

kick

[molly]

29. I have only watched C-Span today - is this all over

the news? If not - :grr:

[struggle4progress]

43. I'm having trouble finding any links on this ...

<edit:> I don't like it when this happens.

[nolabels]

48. They give them the talking points before the news is dished out

THE CEO DUNCE CARD

By CHRISTOPHER BYRON


July 26, 2004 -- IT'S time to face facts, folks: The business of prosecuting white-collar crime in America is collapsing, manhandled toward ruin by clever, high-priced lawyers, inept and underpaid prosecutors, and the misuse and abuse of the basic principle of law known as scienter upon which the whole wobbly edifice rests.

It was damaging enough to the public's trust in the system when the media gave a soapbox to Martha Stewart, fresh from her sentencing in federal court two weeks ago, so that she could play her gender-victimization card and rail against the U.S. government for jamming her up with a rigged felony conviction on what she now insists was really nothing more than a "small personal matter."

But it was only days later when former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger moved the goalposts for prosecutors right out of the stadium. This happened when the news broke last week that Berger had gotten caught 10 months earlier pilfering top secret documents from the National Archives in Washington, following which the FBI was alerted.

Relying on Berger's preposterous claim that he had done nothing improper, the FBI has reportedly spent the last seven months quietly "investigating" whether Berger's theft amounted to a crime — a conclusion that it still has not yet reached.
(snip)
http://www.nypost.com/business/28031.htm

[soggy]

80. WTF???

"Berger had gotten caught 10 months earlier pilfering top secret documents from the National Archives"

I know the Post is shrub propaganda, but this is downright libelous. I'd sue if I were Berger. They make it sound like he snuck in through a window in the middle of the night!

[yellowcanine]

30. So the WH leaked the story just before the convention and Berger is

quietly cleared of all charges on the last day of the convention - and the "investigation" has been going on for almost a year??? Does anybody smell anything? Rodent-like? Rove is shameless. Well, at least we will have sincere apologies from Denny Hastert and Tom Delay to look forward to. I hear there is a cold snap in Hades.

[David Zephyr]

56. Bingo!

Convention Eve: Smear Sandy Berger.
Convention End: Clear Sandy Berger.

[Bandit]

31. I think they should apologize to Socks as well.

:silly:

[yellowcanine]

32. Maybe we need an investigation of how classified materials are handled by

the archives staff? It seems pretty shitty that a dedicated public servant like Sandy Berger should be put through the wringer because of sloppy recordkeeping at the archives.

[0007]

45. Wen Ho Lee paid the price also

With FBI agents lying in a court of law. The poor man had a jacket hung on him and spent time in jail before he was cleared. And after he was cleared not a word was said.

[lapfog_1]

33. So transparent

Story about the investigation leaked on a MONDAY, whole week
spent by the echo chamber running amok about "Sockgate"...
Story about "nevermind" release on a FRIDAY. Won't even make
a blip in the media.

At least one conservative guy (Dave Gergen - sp?) came to Berger's
defense... every other talking head not only believed this crap,
they invented shit. And the unwashed public was left with the
impression that Clinton's NSA went to the national archives and
removed items that would implicate Clinton in some sort of
wrongdoing.

This is SO sick.

[truthspeaker]

35. just sent a "News Tip" to CNN

[dryan]

36. Will not let up....

The Republicans will not let something like this die. There are still stories out there about how the Clinton staff stole all the W keys off White House computers and trashed their offices.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[Tight_rope]

41. Thank God!.....an innocent man is found not guilty...unlike Bushco!

[sandnsea]

42. Berger is a traitor!! Oops, never mind

What total bullshit. I don't see how this obvious right wing smear machine can be denied any longer.

[Romulus]

44. so much

for the "documents in his shorts and socks" meme . . .:eyes:

[struggle4progress]

46. Anatomy of a smear: Sandy Berger "socks" shocker

http://mediamatters.org/items/200407230001

The RW loves the misrepresentation, and this pack of lies may require dedicated work to undo. Effort may be required to ensure that the WSJ story doesn't simply evaporate.

[Generator]

47. Will they even mention this on CNN, Hardlies, the rest?

Thankfully, we got the memo. Never believe a word from their ratlips.

[onenote]

49. why can't I find this

on CNN.com or washingtonpost.com?

onenote

[Politicub]

50. Then let's put this non-story to bed

It was shameful of the GOP to fan the flames, but not a surprise.

The GOP -- "Full of sound and fury - signifying nothing"

[democrat_patriot]

51. Send this to all major media outlets...

as often as you can.

[thecrow]

52. er.. Friday news dump again! eom

[Dover]

53. Just as the convention winds down........

What a joke.

[SoCalDem]

54. Well well well, Isn't that special??

Of course they accomplished what they intended.. Berger is now "tainted", so if Kerry needs his advice, this stuff will all come up again...and again...and again..:puke:

This is what the repubes do BEST... character assassination.. and they have the echo-chamber media as their willing accomplices.:grr:

[donkeyotay]

55. Caution: pointless, frustrated rant ahead

Yesterday, when the rumors about the Pakistani capture of a terrorist were going around, it reminded me of a previous instance when Pakistan had this big breaking news about some fight along the border and their damned "high value targets." Then, after this story had distracted from whatever bad news the administration was hiding from (and I don't remember for sure - I'm thinking maybe a bad incident in Iraq?) Mushareff came out and said "oops, my bad." And they just did it again! This guy they caught on Thursday turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

Then there's this Berger smear, timed to distract from what a complete disaster the current National Security Advisor has been...

And we've got people wondering weither to vote for Bush or Kerry. Sheez people.....as far as I can tell, all of this administration's terra alerts have been either timed to distract or aimed at swing vote states. So, doesn't this make them terrorists??? Aren't they terrorizing the American people for their own gain?

[Joanne98]

58. I told you soooooooooo

Sandy Berger is innocent. He was just being threaten by Bushco.
Message to Bushco: Die and rot in Hell!!!!!!!!!!!

[BAPhill]

59. Whats the story here??

Can't find any thing that says it's over. Still seeing
all kinds of things about pants and socks.

[enki23]

60. so he really never did *anything*?

he took photocopies, not originals, and later returned even those? am i reading that correctly?

[Roy]

61. This does not need to be put to rest...

A full investigation should take place to learn when he was actually cleared.
Was he cleared before the leak? Was the the smear allowed to go unfettered before the announcement?

Lots of questions need to be answered.

[osaMABUSh]

62. Where's the story? I don't see it in your link

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=39459
Just front page here??

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

63. This is getting scary

I searched through the website at the link to this story and there's nothing. Was the story removed? I searched at MSNBC and Keith Olberman's show...nothing (although I heard him mention it on the air). Yahoo! and Google come up empty. Is this a real story? If so, it is frightening to think back to the way the alleged Sandy Berger Socksgate scandal obsessed the media virtually every hour of the day since it broke. Now that he's apparently been cleared there is dead silence. Truly scary. Really.

[struggle4progress]

64. Archived now:

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_archives_detail.cfm?newsitemid=39459

But the story's still not showing up elsewhere. The Bushistas must have spent most of today trying to kill it.

[robcon]

66. I think the story has been discredited by the WSJ.

n/t

[struggle4progress]

67. What does that mean? eom

[pinniped]

68. Think it means end of message.

eom

[struggle4progress]

69. Wasn't confused by eom but by unlinked speculation about WSJ. eom

[Tuttle]

83. I read the article in Friday's WSJ

to my knowledge, they don't publish on the weekends (landlord is a subscriber and away -- I'm bringing his paper and mail in and saw it).

So I don't think they've discredited their own story.

...now, watch this drive,
Tut-tut

[Cooley Hurd]

73. The only discounting of the "Berger cleared" story...

...I've heard of was on NewsMax. :eyes:

(went to newsmax to seek article, but became violently ill before I could locate it and had to close browser :puke:

[homelandpunk]

65. Berger is in cahoots with Osama...I just feel it!!! He gave the documents

to Zarqawi because he is a democrat who turned to the dark side when he accidentally caught a glimpse of Clinton's penis in the john at the white house. While Clinton was heaving it's bulk back into his pants after urinating, Sandy walked in and saw it, and lost his eternal soul. These people are out to kill us and give information to al Qaeda.
You think there is an explanation for why he took the documents????? Just look at the guy. There is no innocent explanatation for these things. It is obvious they want muslims to fly more planes into godly americans who support Bush.

[NV1962]

71. Yeah, that's the gist

of this piece of, eh, reading material in something called "The American Daily" from Ohio.

And NewsMax isn't willing to let go of the story, either.

'Taint over yet - but it's clear what the campaign is going to look like for the next 93 days: repuke surrogates spewing crap, inert media that take it in as "news" and ignore the debunking refutations, and a lot of hard work for us.

Get ready, it's starting.

Looooooong autumn ahead.

[Judi Lynn]

70. Heard news bit read briefly on the "Countdown" show with Keith Olberman nt

[Blue Gardener]

72. Glad we have Keith Olberman

At least he reports some of the BS crap coming out of the White House. He also reported on the suspicious timing of the terrorist capture during the convention.

[Shopaholic]

74. He was great last night-he also did a segment on the BBV in Florida

and the mysterious reappearance of the lost 2002 election data disc.

[carolinayellowdog]

75. Daniel Schor kicked media butt about this just now

Thank God the odious Scott Simon has some counterbalance on Saturday mornings.

[KoKo]

76. Kick!

:kick:

[Junkdrawer]

77. Here's the link..

http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=3806783

[Bombero1956]

78. okay

Now that the Democratic Convention is over and he's resigned from Kerry's canpaign no charges are warranted. Pretty transparent to me.

[Junkdrawer]

79. That would be my read...

"If ya keep quiet, nothin' bads gonna happen to ya"

[Timefortruth]

81. It isn't anywhere in Google news today.

But the Newsmax trash is all over the place.

Damn liberal media.

[struggle4progress]

82. After two weeks, no takers on the Lanny Davis challenge:

Wednesday, July 21, 2004
WASHINGTON (CNN) ... one archive staffer told agents that Berger also placed something in his socks. That latter allegation drew a sharp response from Berger associate and former White House lawyer Lanny Davis, who challenged any unnamed official who makes such an accusation to come forward publicly. "I suggest that person is lying," he said. "And if that person has the guts, let's see who it is who made the comment that Sandy Berger stuffed something into his socks" ...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/20/berger.probe/

Of course, liars are often gutless: otherwise, they wouldn't lie.

Hey! Isn't it a crime to lie to a federal agent during an investigation? And does anybody expect prosecutions for THAT?

[stevebreeze]

84. I am sure Hastert well apologize soon for his claims

link here http://speaker.house.gov/library/defense/040720berger.shtml

I don't know if there is a bigger schmuck in the House..it would be hard.
:kick:

There is an alternative in the IL 14th.

www.zamoraforcongress.org

[struggle4progress]

85. Politics: The Berger follies (USN&WR)

Home > Issues > 8/9/04
The Week
Lisa Stein

It's a mystery why President Clinton's National Security Adviser Samuel Berger took copies of classified documents from the National Archives last fall while readying material for the 9/11 commission. Berger says it was a mistake; GOPers speculated he might be trying to cover up potentially damaging info on the Clinton administration. The latest chapter: The Wall Street Journal reports that archives officials now say no original documents reviewed by Berger are missing.

End of story? Don't bet on it. After all, there's still three months until the election.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040809/usnews/9week.lede.htm


Well, that's a bit weak, after John Leo's screed in the previous issue of USN&WR, emphasizing the sock story (albeit with a cute disclaimer: "admittedly third-hand and anonymous, coming through 'law enforcement sources' who got it from the FBI"), while failing to notice that Berger had only copies and had done nothing to obstruct the 9/11 Commission's work.