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Archiver > APG > 2006-12 > 1166797995


From: david mcdonald <>
Subject: [APG] Two pieces, related to the National Archives
Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:33:15 +0000


I'm attaching one directly, and linking to the other...

The first is about the removal of documents by a former Clinton administration official--I'm not getting all political here, folks...I just want to show how it is that our visits to the Archives as researchers got much more complicated, security-wise.

"Sandy Berger's Secret Hiding Place" is the heading on the Chicago Tribune's website...

There's this guy who took some highly classified documents from the National Archives three years ago. He stuffed them into his suit when he thought no one was looking.
His pockets bulging, he walked outside to Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capital. He leaned down and hid them under a construction trailer--in the dirt.
He retrieved them later and took them to his office, using scissors to cut up three copies. He put them in the trash. These documents were government reports. They dealt with the threat of terrorist attacks during the Clinton administration. It was a controversial issue, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
No, this man is not a spy. It's clear he's not James Bond. He's Samuel (Sandy) Berger. He was Clinton's National SECURITY adviser.
(CNN obtained the National Archives and Records Agency inspector general's report.
He got caught. The Archives found him out.
Later, he paid a $50,000 fine and forfeited his security clearance for three years. He said it was an honest mistake (although he initially denied he had destroyed some copies). No harm was done because other copies existed of the report, it was disclosed, but now the rather clumsy way he took the documents makes the incident seem even stranger.
Berger said he had taken out the copies to prepare for a congressional hearing on terrorism, but the latest information, contained in a National Archives inspector general's report obtained by the Associated Press, certainly raises eyebrows. Certainly, the Clinton admiinistration's role in dealing with terrorism had come under heavy public scrutiny.
His lawyer said Berger wanted to put the incident behind him. But there is no way he can bury it.

For the second, I'll forward a link to the list. Any of us who've used the research rooms on the second floor will recognize the location.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Dave McDonald

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