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National Archives Staff Suspected Berger’s Removal of DocumentsEmployees at the National Archives claim they had suspected former national security advisor Sandy Berger last September of removing classified documents from the archives. Berger, who had been asked by former president Bill Clinton to review and select documents to be turned over to the commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks, is now under criminal investigation by the Justice Department.The Washington Post reported July 22 that before Berger’s subsequent visit, on October 2, archives officials coded the papers to tell more easily whether any disappeared. Two days later, according to Berger, he was contacted by archives staff who expressed concern about missing papers related to the Clinton administration’s antiterrorism efforts. Berger’s attorney Lanny Breuer explained that Berger then checked his office and realized he had mistakenly walked out with the papers. Berger was given use of a special room to examine the materials, according to the Post. Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper said that staff closely monitors anyone who is reviewing classified presidential materials. But the New York Daily News reported July 22 that Berger repeatedly persuaded his monitors to break the rules and leave him alone by telling them he had to make sensitive phone calls, and that he took “lots of bathroom breaks” that raised suspicion. Berger also acknowledged that he had failed to show 40 to 50 pages of notes he had taken to archives officials for review; however, such a violation of archives rules is not considered a serious security lapse, the Post said. The monitors also told the FBI that Berger was seen stuffing his socks with his handwritten notes about the files, an allegation that he strongly denies. Posted July 23, 2004. |
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