David Gergen Calls Timing of Berger Story "Suspicious"

[kskiska]

(From The Note)

David Gergen, a former advisor to both Democratic and Republican presidents, vouched for Berger on NBC's "Today," calling him a "hero" in the war on terror, a man of "utter integrity" and saying it is "suspicious that this would leak" just before the release of the 9/11 Commission's report.

"It's not even clear to (Berger) that this investigation is still under way," Gergen said, "& no charges have been brought against him."

When NBC's Katie Couric followed up and asked Gergen if he was suggesting that this story might be coming out now as a "distraction" to the 9/11 Commission's report, Gergen said, "It has those overtones. Let's let more facts come out."

Gergen said that he doesn't think the Berger story "reflects on Sen. Kerry." He did say, however, that "what would hurt the Kerry campaign would be if Sandy would have to withdraw" from his role as an advisor to the Kerry campaign.

more…
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/TheNote/Morning_Show_Wrap.html

[napi21]

1. Gergen is one of few straight shooting guys.

I may disagree with him a lot of times, he seems to be pretty even handed in his commenets. I'm such a jerk, I didn't even think aobut this being a distraction when I first heard it. I hate myself for still trying to be fair and open-minded, and thinking both sides can do wrong things.

I heard another commentator on CNN say the same thing.

OHHH, I hope this turns out to be another "Gotcha" against the shrub!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. After 3+ years of watching Bush & Co.

When news like this hits, you just must ask yourself, "What are they trying to hide?"

It's like clockwork, with these dolts.

Same with the terror level alerts.

[N3WBI3]

19. umm...

So you're theory is that Berger took the documents to help Bush by making a story?? The man fully admits that he took them and that some of them are gone.. Lets not be hacks on this one..

[LuminousX]

26. Welcome

I think part of the concern regarding this issue is the timing of the release of this information.

[lancdem]

27. It's the timing

and the fact the investigation is 9 months old.

[N3WBI3]

31. Maybe...

But I think closer to the election would be better timing than this..

[Pachamama]

35. No - closer to the election is the "October Surprise" - this is their

...Pre 9/11 Commission Report Propaganda Scare tactic...They really do have lots up their sleeves and its pretty funny to watch their minions like Fat Shit Dennis Hassert et al line up behind the Rove Fax Fact Blast and act like the sky is falling...

Folks here on the DU have gotten used to it and have learned to put the Rove Filter on and ask ourselves - Hmmm....what is coming or what has got them so scared?

[N3WBI3]

39. And this

Stops us from condemning behavior which is unethical and possibly illegal?

[hlthe2b]

7. I agree.... Gergen is one that I will still watch despite

not agreeing with him much of the time. Gergen is still of the "old school," with a few shreds of integrity intact.

[underpants]

3. Gergen also said that Berger hasn't heard from investigators for weeks

WEEKS!

That is what Gergen said that "close associates" of Berger told him. This investigation was started 7 months ago and seems to have already been wrapped up.

[trumad]

5. It's Rove ... no doubt!

[geek tragedy]

4. Politically motivated leaks and smears coming from the White House?

Who in the name of Robert Novak would believe that?

[RummyTheDummy]

25. I've seen that commercial too

And I love it. I think the wife in that commercial was in the "Vacation" films playing cousin Eddie's wife.

[UTUSN]

6. Kick n/t

[Timefortruth]

8. Anyone think this might also have to do with the Plame indictments?

If the indictments are ever issued, the central defense will be that the leak was accidental, Plame's covert status was unknown to the leaker, therefore no crime was committed.

It looks like that is the argument Berger will make also. Never mind that Berger didn't disseminate the information, because the press will also forget that detail.

[Robbien]

17. Every time Halliburton is in the news, a smoke screen comes out

The news story of Halliburton/Cheney trading with an enemy state, Iran, hit the news stands today.

No surprise they are dragging out this non-story smokescreen.

[Leilani]

38. One of the news shows inferred that it might be to deflect

the blame Ashcroft is going to get in the 9/11 report.

And that would make sense, since it comes out of the Justice Dept.

[Frodo]

40. Possibly, but they seem to already have a response to that now.

They're calling for an end to the probe absed on more recent reports showing Wilson was lying.

I think the theory goes that the leak was not to "out" an undercover operative, but to demonstrate nepotism in the Wilson selection to go to Niger. His wife couldn't have done that if she wasn't IN a position to recommend him... an thus would HAVE to be in some intelligence role.

If this were true, then the leaker would not have violated any laws. And since two government reports seem to make this claim? They don't need to use "but Berger is sayign the same thing".

[molly]

9. Is this kind of like Kerry's girlfriend?

this is MILD compared to what this WH has done and is covering up.

[Mountainman]

10. I listened to Laura Ingrahm for a few moments, that's all I can stand

she was voicing all the possible Dem taking points about this and saying that it's what you will here today, but no Dem has said anything that I know of which says to me that this is a planned Rove, blast fax item and nothing more. Just listen to wingnut radio today and listen to them all saying the same thing and you'll see what I mean.

[peekaloo]

11. Was Hatie-Katie disappointed in his assessment?

NBC led with this story on each hour of the Today Show and their implications were not subtle. Berger was accused of "pocketing" official documents, not just handwritten notes, that were critical of the Clinton Administration over the Y2K and LAX bombers.....and of course mentioning each time he was now an adviser to the Kerry campaign.

Good to hear that Gergen presented an even handed assessment.

[Pathwalker]

12. Jefferey Tubin was on CNN, said he was investigated too

for the exact same thing, and that he was cleared - just as he expects Sandy Berger will be. David Gergen was on MSRNC and said he's known Sandy Berger for over 30 years - and that Sandy Berger is a HERO to America. He seemed genuinely PISSED that the REPEATER would think there was even a remote possibility that Sandy Berger was guilty of ANYTHING.

[UTUSN]

13. LIMBOsevic Ratcheting Up the Noise

Referred to ASSCRACK "outing" Jamie GORELICK. Yup, has something to do with ASSCRACK.

[underpants]

14. LINK to Gergen's site and LINK to video

Link to MSNBC already on Gergen's own website
http://www.davidgergen.com/index.php?page=appearances&item=512

"..more innocent than it looks..."

"..one of the heroes of the war on terror..."

"copies...of internal documents..after action review of the millennium....self assessment"

"investigations started MONTHS ago...he hasn't heard from them in WEEKS"

"suspicious to some of his colleagues"

"not clear the investigation is still underway"

Distractioin?---"it has those overtones"

He went on to say that the Washington Post does not have this on the front page so how the media covers it will decide how much it matters but added that if Berger had to leave the Kerry campaign that would harm their preperation, as he has been an integral part of formulating their national security policy, at this point.

[peekaloo]

15. Thank you.

Turd Blossom's in full bloom on this one.

[SayitAintSo]

16. You made me laugh out loud ....

Turd blossom ... it somehow fits :)

[UTUSN]

18. Kick for Page 1 n/t

[slor]

20. Is there anything that these fools do...

that is NOT suspect?

[gatorboy]

21. I thought I had read that this investigation actually occurred in October.

So why wasn't there outrage then? Not to mention Los Alamos National Laboratory shut down of the country's nuclear weapons lab on Friday.
It always seems like when a story comes out that could hurt Bush, we suddenly have a terra warning or something like this...

[Robbien]

22. When the RW spin machine is all on the same page at the same time

you know they are spinning. And they are hitting this hard. An old news story but they are hitting it hard.

[Ernesto]

23. KICK

[Blue_Roses]

24. I agree, very obvious there is a smear campaign going on

to dicredit him. Here's an excerpt from "Against All Enemies," that shows Berger's stance on an invasion of Iran, something he wan't for:


"Some in the Saudi royal family, like Bandar's father, Minister of Defense Sultan, reportedly welcomed the possibility of a U.S. war with Iran, if America would remove the Tehran regime. Bandar, in private talks with senior American officials in 1996 and 1997, suggested that all that was stopping the Saudis from implicating Iran was the fear that the American retaliation would be half-hearted. If the U.S. could promise a full-scale fight to the finish, then the Kingdom would probably tell all that it knew about the Iranian role in the Khobar attack. Sandy Berger told Bandar that the United States could not promise what it would do on the basis of evidence it had not seen"...
"Against All Enemies," by Richard Clark

[struggle4progress]

28. Obvious distraction from evidence ...

... that * was warned Al-Qaeda was planning to hijack planes and had a Manhattan target ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/daily/graphics/commission_071704.html


And Sandy's gone for now ...

AP: Berger Steps Down As Kerry Adviser
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=697973

[TA]

29. My conclusion is Berger must have stuffed his socks into his pants

Seriously, our news sources are absolutely pathetic. Fox News is reporting Berger stuffed his pants with top secret 9/11 documents. MaxNews reports that Berger was stuffing his socks with stuff. The day time shows are all over Berger and how terrible this is for Kerry. Meanwhile not a word about about the Abu Ghraib prison abuses to children. What the hell has happened to our country? How can this be happening? What will it take to make it clear to the media that we are not going to take this anymore?

[JDPriestly]

30. I just saw "The Hunting of the President" Sunday

THE TROUBLING THOUGHT IS THAT THE REPUBS MIGHT USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO SEARCH DEMOCRATIC HQ, KERRY HQ, ETC. TO FIND THE MISSING DOCUMENT(S). Otherwise, even if Berger admits to knowingly taking notes with him, I would suspend judgment. Having just seen "The Hunting of the President," I wouldn't rule out foul play by Repubs on this one. It is very easy to think up scenarios under which some or all of the documents could have been planted. And someone else could have taken the missing documents. There is no proof thus far that Berger removed them from the Archives. Remember the story is that the documents were found on a messy desk in Berger's house. It would be easy to plant documents on a messy desk. One of the problems with the Patriot Act is that the provisions allowing secret searches enable investigators and others to plant evidence.

On the other hand, it is perfectly believable that Berger may have inadvertently placed documents that belonged to the archives in his portfolio, since they may have had his handwriting on them, or may have been documents so familiar to him that he did not differentiate them from other, similar looking unclassified documents in the portfolio.

The theory that Berger intentionally took the documents to help the Kerry campaign would be believable except that he worked with classified materials long enough to have learned that he would get caught. Besides, what motivation would he have had to take them out? They are drafts, not final documents. What could they prove? It would be different if Berger were accused of taking a final document that the Bush administration likely would have seen and that could prove they were warned about terrorism. Berger was quick to return the copies that he found, and there is no way to prove he took the missing ones. The facts support the theory that his conduct was unintentional. A criminal act has to be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt -- and often intent has to also be proved. I don't know if that would be necessary here.

There is no comparison between Berger's alleged inadvertently taking documents from the Archives and the Plame outing. Berger's presence and use of the documents was legitimate, authorized and open. Whoever made the Plame call knew he or she was doing something wrong. That person acted secretly and, even now, refuses to take responsibility. Those facts suggest that the Plame outer acted with the knowledge that what he or she was doing was wrong. It also strongly suggests the wrongdoing was intentional. Totally different facts. No comparison.

Is this too long?

[seabeyond]

32. last i heard, when they came to berger in oct

adn told him there was a single missing document he hunted it down amongst the papers in his portfolio and gave it to them, and gave him the notes he wrote down without ok, ergo two documents they talk of,......without them asking for those

there are no missing documents from what i heard

and lawyer was continually assured this would not be leaked to press and look like it wasnt a big deal for almost a year

[JDPriestly]

34. Correction

Standard of proof would probably be beyond reasonable doubt, not beyond a shadow of a doubt.

[calimary]

33. I posted this on another thread, having watched Gergen defend Berger

on CNN with Aaron Brown. I found myself wondering how soon the republi-CONS are going to put a hit out on David Gergen. Gotta be some dirt in there that they can use to discredit him with. He's their worst enemy in this. He OBVIOUSLY did NOT get their memo. He said all the wrong things (at least from their point of view). ALL the wrong things:

About the timing which he bald-facedly said could be regarded as suspicious, and for the reason he also specified - to draw fire away from Thursday's expected release of the 9/11 Commission's report.

About the character of Sandy Berger - unimpeachable, says he knows him well, respects the heck out of him, AND THEN proceeded to spell out in some detail how Sandy Berger worked almost literally around the clock during what we now know as the run-up to the Millennium terrorist threats, and Gergen REPEATEDLY stated that Berger "STOPPED THE ATTACKS." He must have repeated that maybe three or four times.

And to add insult to injury, he flat-out stated that "these people should be THANKING Sandy Berger for all his hard work because (repeating yet again) HE STOPPED THE ATTACKS.

FURTHERMORE, Gergen referred back to ALL the republi-CON puffing, which is, I think, the phrase he used, or maybe even "unnecessary puffing" by those who had just been shown in videotaped clips, fulminating about how awful this was and how it was such a serious breach of national security - you could see all the usual suspects, Dennis Hastert coming to the mike with the coterie of gop henchmen - tom delay, and others, all really indignant and frowny-looking, and then the senators - including rick santorum and - our dear darling Georgia CHICKENHAWK saxby "I'm more patriotic having skirted Vietnam than Max Cleland who lost three limbs in the war there" chambliss. And then, here's David Gergen, referring back to those same people he says were hyperventilating about it (my phrase) when he said a) a second time that they should be THANKING Sandy Berger because he - repeat yet again - STOPPED THE MILLENNIUM ATTACK.

He specifically described all the uproar as just that, uproar, and much ado about nothing. He said they were going way overboard and that there's "a lot less here than meets the eye." Those were, in fact, his closing comments, and those, too, were a repeat from earlier in the interview.

He not only vouched vigorously for Sandy Berger's character, but he gave himself a little bit of a ribbing when he pointed out that this was certainly sloppy, and mentioned that he himself ought to know because he had that problem, being sloppy. He said he could understand how you have papers all over the desk and at the end you scoop 'em all up and put 'em away in your folder and then - Gergen said - he probably LOST a couple of 'em. He pointed out again that he thought this was just sloppy.

He further said that Berger was there, to begin with, because as part of what was then his anticipated testimony before the 9/11 Commission, that the commission asked him to go back and thoroughly review his notes of the Millennium threat and what was done - (to do what, class?) STOP THE ATTACK. So he was carrying out instructions he'd been given from the panel.

AND - Gergen also pointed out, repeatedly, that these were copies. COPIES. C-O-P-I-E-S of stuff that is STILL in the National Archives, stuff that was ALL seen by the 9/11 Commission, and ALL made available, and all still there, now. Gergen said there was NEVER anything out of any of this that was kept back from, or hidden from, or disallowed to the 9/11 Commission, and that they'd seen everything there. This, he said, and the missing papers, were copies of stuff that the commission absolutely did get to see. So basically no damage done - GERGEN SAID.

As for Aaron Brown, he introduced Gergen as somebody who ought to know, having advised four presidents, Nixon, Reagan, bush 1 and Clinton. The CLEAR inference here was that this, like with Richard Clarke, presents a picture of someone who is very non-partisan, having worked for both camps, and presidents of both parties.

So, all in all, I thought it was rather even-handed, even excellent for Sandy Berger. David Gergen was really definite about these things. No hemming and hawing and parsing his words and grasping about, verbally, for "a way to put this" that would shade it with other meanings in any way. He was very straightforward, and the republi-CONS probably hate his guts this evening. Probably revoked his VIP pass to their convention next month. EVERYTHING David Gergen said HURT their case. EVERYTHING. If Sandy Berger's attorney was at trial about this, he'd have David Gergen as his star witness.

[Swamp Rat]

36. Thanks for the CNN update and post

:thumbsup:

[Leilani]

37. I think the press finally is fed up with Bush

Every story I saw reporting on Berger mentioned the timing of the leak.

And some of them stressed the leak as more important than Berger.

[N3WBI3]

41. I find the removal and destruction of document suspicious..

[SidDithers]

42. Yeah, those Texas National Guard records ...

shouldn't have been destroyed like that.

Sid