Feds say Berger still under probe

October 4, 2004

The criminal investigation of former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger – accused of pocketing highly classified terrorism documents prior to the Sept. 11 Commission hearings – has disappeared from media coverage but not from the federal government’s agenda.

Sandy Berger

A spokesman from the Department of Justice told WND that a criminal investigation was ongoing, but he would not provide details about the nature or timing of the probe.

Berger, who had served as national security adviser to John Kerry’s campaign, was reported in July to be under investigation for removing the documents and handwritten notes from a secure reading room at the National Archives.

Berger was there at the request of former President Clinton, who asked him to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.

FBI agents searched his home and office after he voluntarily returned some documents. But some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration’s handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration were found to be missing.

Berger and his lawyer admit he knowingly removed handwritten notes he made while reading classified anti-terror documents by sticking them in his jacket, pants and socks. They said he also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio.

“I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced,” Berger said in a statement.

Although Berger says he has resigned from his informal post as adviser to Kerry, he stated in a speech last week that if the Massachusetts senator wins the election, it is possible the decision to reduce U.S. troops in Korea would be reconsidered, The Chosun Ilbo newspaper of South Korea reported.

In a keynote address for an international symposium hosted by Johns Hopkins University and the Maeil Business Newspaper, Berger said pulling 12,000 troops out of Korea at a time when Koreans were openly raising doubts about the Korea-U.S. relationship was sending a bad signal to Koreans, the Korean newspaper said.

Berger believes direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea are needed to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.