Ok explain sandy burger to me

[southernleftylady]

because i hear republicans saying his name when we talk rove...tia

[ObaMania]

1. Probably cuz he sneaked documents out of the archives..

.. either during or post- working for Clinton. Big news story last year.

[southernleftylady]

2. oh yeah i remember that now..

[chelsea0011]

3. Sneaked? Maybe. His story was that while he was researching

some Clinton issues, some sensitive documents that are not to leave archives were mixed in with others and he "inadvertently" took them with him. As I remember his story wasn't too unbelievable. He pleaded guilty to a minor charge. The republicans acted like he lied about facts to start a war of some sort.

[MrBenchley]

5. What he took were COPIES...

and he had the security clearances necessary to be in possesion of them...he pled guilty to a misdemeanor to shut the mess down.

It was another Republican dry hump...

[trotsky]

6. Last official version I heard was...

He took a copy of the post-Y2K report that explained what steps were taken to make sure any millenium attacks were thwarted, then when he got home and realized what he had, he destroyed it. Now why someone would assume the worst when:

1) It was a COPY, not the original.

2) This is document written AFTER a successful prevention of terrorist attacks. What could possibly be embarrassing or damaging to the Clinton administration?

No, what I think is, he took a copy so he would have info for the Kerry campaign (remember, he was an advisor at the time) to point out the kinds of things Clinton was doing to fight terrorism vs. what * has done. Yeah, some political gamesmanship but fuck he didn't out a CIA agent or put the nation in danger like KKKarl did.

[ObaMania]

15. Right.

I wasn't saying that he really did it. I just summed it up to avoid having to go into the whole story.

I don't believe he did, and he pretty much was released from all charges.

If I remember correctly, this was the re :puke: response to the DEM's running with
a story that Karen Hughes was key in disposing of parts of *'s military record.

They are some vindictive MFer's, aren't they?

[KharmaTrain]

4. Berger - Clinton Enabler

This goes back to the inquisition. Berger was Clinton's NSC...National Security Adviser...who the wingnuts all but blamed for selling secrets and technology to China and anything else they could make up.

He made a convenient scapegoat/whipping boy last year for taking some copies of notes and memos he had written to Clinton about Al Queda/terrorism when he was NSC. This was stuff that were copies, and stuff he had written. He went to look at the papers to refresh himself prior to appearing before the 9/11 Commission and then forgot to return one of the copies (sorry for the bold, but wingnuts will ignore that little important fact) and later admitted he had stuffed it in his pocket. Of course, this got spun into his socks and underware, etc.

He was fined, paid the fine and is guilty of being stupid. Should we start a list of Repugnicans who would fit that qualification? DU's servers couldn't deal with the overload.

Cheers...

[quaway]

9. yeah the story was overblown

here's a recap of what happened & how it was reported

http://mediamatters.org/items/200407230001

[KharmaTrain]

12. It Was Another Morton Blackwell Production...

Just like the Slimeboaters. Look at the timing and the way it was done.

This was fed into the corporate media and MMFA did a great job then and still does now in archiving that stuff.

Welcome to DU.

Cheers!

[seabeyond]

7. he was doing research for the 9/11 commission

the papers were not originals, so to suggest he was trying to hide something from clinton time doesnt make sense. the jest was he made copies of some of the documents and didnt get permission to do so. then he says picking up his stuff, he grabbed some papers from the archive with his and put in brief case. when they came to his house, they found them in the briefcase mixed up with his papers.

the confusion comes to settling. i cant remember clearly but he seemed to imply he was more criminal in it than what had appeared at first.

[KittyWampus]

11. He "made copies". I wonder if he simply took notes and those were the

copies.

just wondering...

[seabeyond]

13. if he had taken notes would have been ok

from what i can remember but he made copies of copies for refreshing memory. this wasnt new, but rules say you are suppose to ask

other documents that were copies ended up in portfolio, those were in briefcase when they came to his house, says was accident, appears was accident

but at the end, there was a hiccup in this and he admitted to something in his sentencing that i hadnt heard otherwise that made him appear guilty of something. i just dont remember that twist

[KittyWampus]

8. Well, He PREVENTED Terror Attacks & PROTECTED The US.

Rove, on the other hand is a TRAITOR!

[Cassandra]

10. While preparing for the 911 hearings...

he went to the National Archives, or wherever classified documents are held, to review classified documents THAT HE WROTE so that he could answer the questions accurately. He never took the originals out of the building but he did remove some copies, apparently in a leather portfolio he had brought with him to carry his notes. The freepers would like us all to believe that Berger stuffed papers in his socks and underwear while the staff just stood around, watching him and saying nothing until he left. Not very likely, is it?
To recap, he took copies out of the building, which is illegal, and used them to refresh his memory in front of the 911 commission. Not earth shattering or treasonous, just against the rules. He pled guilty and was fined and lost his security clearance for 3 years. Seems like an appropriate punishment.

[zoids]

14. Here are some qotes from a Washington Post story

this past April that details his plea agreement:

"Under terms negotiated by Berger's attorneys and the Justice Department, he has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and accept a three-year suspension of his national security clearance. These terms must be accepted by a judge before they are final, but Berger's associates said yesterday he believes that closure is near on what has been an embarrassing episode during which he repeatedly misled people about what happened during two visits to the National Archives in September and October 2003."

"The deal's terms make clear that Berger spoke falsely last summer in public claims that in 2003 he twice inadvertently walked off with copies of a classified document during visits to the National Archives, then later lost them."

"Rather than misplacing or unintentionally throwing away three of the five copies he took from the archives, as the former national security adviser earlier maintained, he shredded them with a pair of scissors late one evening at the downtown offices of his international consulting business."

"The document, written by former National Security Council terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke, was an "after-action review" prepared in early 2000 detailing the administration's actions to thwart terrorist attacks during the millennium celebration. It contained considerable discussion about the administration's awareness of the rising threat of attacks on U.S. soil."

"Berger friends regarded the agreement as fair, given the circumstances..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16706-2005Mar31.html