SANDY BERGER

'Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger' (born October 28, 1945) served as the 19th United States National Security Advisor under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he helped to formulate the foreign policy of the Clinton Administration. During this time he advised the President regarding the Khobar Towers bombing, Operation Desert Fox and other actions against Iraq, the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, responses to the terrorist bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the administration's policy of engagement with the People's Republic of China.Apple Jr., R. W., "A Domestic Sort With Global Worries", ''New York Times'', August 25, 1999 He was also one of the prominent actors of the Camp David 2000 Summit.
Before joining the administration Berger had worked as an international trade attorney. Currently, he is chairman of an international advisory firm and chairman of the board of an international investment fund. Living in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., he is married to Susan Berger and has three children (two daughters and one son).
In April 2005, Berger plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material from the National Archives in Washington. According to the lead prosecutor in the case Berger only took copies of classified information and that no original material was destroyed, however there is notable controversy and speculation that he might have removed or destroyed originals of other unknown documents as well.

Contents

Early life

Clinton administration

Fined for conflict of interest

Chinese nuclear espionage

Post-government

Convicted of mishandling classified terror documents

See also

References

External links

Early life

Originally from Millerton, New York where his parents ran an Army-Navy store (and born in nearby Sharon, Connecticut), Berger earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1967 and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1971. At Cornell, Berger was a member of the Quill and Dagger society with Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Hadley. Opposed to the Vietnam War, Berger began working for Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign in 1972. While there, he met Bill Clinton, forming a friendship that would last for decades. Berger later urged Clinton to run for president.Ahrens, Frank, "The Reluctant Warrior", ''Washington Post'', February 24, 1998
After the McGovern campaign, Berger gained experience working in a variety of government posts, including serving as Special Assistant to former New York City Mayor John Lindsay and Legislative Assistant to former U.S. Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa and Congressman Joseph Resnick of New York. He was also Deputy Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department from 1977 to 1980 under Secretary of State Cyrus Vance during the Carter administration.Stonebridge website, Retrieved: January 10, 2007
After leaving the State Department, Berger went on to join the law firm Hogan & Hartson where he helped expand the firm's international law practice. As a partner, he opened the firm's first two international offices, in London and Brussels.Ahrens, Frank, "The Reluctant Warrior", ''Washington Post'', February 24, 1998 "Sandy Berger," Nancy Pelosi said in 1997 prior to becoming Speaker of the House, "was the point person at... Hogan & Hartson... for the trade office of the Chinese government. He was a lawyer-lobbyist."Hentoff, Nat, "Dinner With Gen. Chi", ''Washington Post'', January 26, 1997

Clinton administration

Berger served as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Governor Clinton during the campaign, and as Assistant Transition Director for National Security of the 1992 Clinton-Gore Transition. During Clinton's first term of office (1993-1997), Berger served as deputy national security advisor, under Anthony Lake in the National Security Council. In Clinton's second term of office, Berger succeeded Lake as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1997 to 2001.

Fined for conflict of interest

In November 1997, Berger paid a $23,000 civil penalty to settle conflict of interest allegations stemming from his failure to sell his stock of Amoco Corporation as ordered by the White House. Berger was advised by the White House to sell the stock in early 1994. Berger said he had planned to sell the stock, but then forgot. He denied knowingly participating in decisions in which he had a financial interest. With no evidence that Berger intended to break the law, the U.S. Justice Department determined a civil penalty was adequate for a "non-willful violation" of the conflict of interest law."Berger Agrees To Pay Penalty ", ''CNN''.com, November 10, 1997

Chinese nuclear espionage

In 1999, Berger was criticized for failing to promptly inform President Clinton of his knowledge that the People's Republic of China had managed to acquire the designs of a number of U.S. nuclear warheads. Berger was originally briefed of the espionage by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in April 1996, but did not inform the president until July 1997.Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "China Stole Nuclear Secrets From Los Alamos, U.S. Officials Say", ''New York Times'', March 6, 1999"The White House and China", ''New York Times'', Editorial, April 9, 1999
A number of Republicans, including then presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander, called for Berger's resignation. They accused him of ignoring the allegations of Chinese espionage. "For his unwillingness to act on this serious matter, Mr. Berger should resign", Alexander said. "If he does not, he should be relieved of his duties by President Clinton.", ''CNN''.com, March 11, 1999 President Clinton rejected the calls: "The record is that we acted aggressively," Clinton said. "Mr. Berger acted appropriately."Gerstenzang, James and Drogin, Bob, "Clinton Defends Response In China Espionage Case", ''Los Angeles Times'', March 12, 1999

Post-government

After leaving the Clinton administration, Berger became chairman of Stonebridge International, an international advisory firm he co-founded in 2001 which focuses on aiding companies in their expansion into markets such as Brazil, China, India, and Russia.Stonebridge website, Retrieved: January 10, 2007 Berger is also Chairman of the DB Zwirn Global Advisory Board, an international investment fund and merchant capital provider founded in 2001 and with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia.Schurr, Stephen, "DB Zwirn hires Clinton aide", Financial Times, March 15, 2006
In late 2003, Berger was called to testify before the 9/11 Commission regarding steps taken against terrorism during his tenure and the information he provided to his successor, Condoleezza Rice. At the time, Berger was also acting as an informal foreign policy advisor to Senator John Kerry during his campaign for the presidency. He quit his advisory role after controversy arose regarding his preparations for testifying before the September 11 committee."Sandy Berger Quits Kerry Team", CBSNews.com, July 20, 2004

Convicted of mishandling classified terror documents

On July 19, 2004, it was revealed that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating Berger for unlawfully stealing classified documents in October 2003, by removing them from a National Archives reading room prior to testifying before the 9/11 Commission. The documents were five classified copies of a single report commissioned from Richard Clarke, covering internal assessments of the Clinton administration's handling of the unsuccessful 2000 millennium attack plots.
When initially questioned by reporters, Berger claimed that the removal of the top-secret documents in his attache-case and handwritten notes in his jacket and pants pockets was accidental. He later, in a guilty plea, admitted to deliberately removing the copies and cutting three up with scissors. Archive staff stated they witnessed Berger, on more than one occasion, stuffing into his pants and into his jacket papers he was illegally removing. One witness saw Berger stuffing into his socks papers from the archives. Frieden, Terry, "Sandy Berger to plead guilty on documents charge", ''CNN''.com, April 1, 2005 Two of the copies were recovered by DOJ investigators and returned to the archives.
Berger eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material on April 1, 2005. Under a plea agreement, U.S. attorneys recommended a fine of $10,000 and a loss of security clearance for three years. However, on September 8, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson increased the fine to $50,000 at Berger's sentencing. Robinson stated, "The court finds the fine [recommended by government prosecutors] is inadequate because it doesn't reflect the seriousness of the offense."Sherman, Mark, "Berger Pleads Guilty to Taking Materials", ''Associated Press'' via SFGate.com, April 2, 2005 Berger was also ordered to serve two years of probation and to perform 100 hours of community service.Margasak, Larry, "GOP Contradicts Justice Department", ''Associated Press'', January 10 2007
Critics suggest Berger destroyed primary evidence revealing anti-terrorism policies and actions, and that his motive was to permanently erase Clinton administration pre-9/11 mistakes from the public record. Public statements to this effect have been made by talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh,^[1] former Clinton campaign advisor Dick Morris,^[2] ''USA Today'' reporter Jack Kelley,^[3] multiple times by
Fox News correspondent John Gibson (the last as recently as December 2006^[4]), and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (Republican-Illinois), who said: "What information could be so embarrassing that a man with decades of experience in handling classified documents would risk being caught pilfering our nation's most sensitive secrets?"^[5]
After a long investigation, the lead prosecutor Noel Hillman, chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, stated that Berger only removed classified copies of data stored on hard drives stored in the National Archives, and that no original material was destroyed.^[6] His and the FBI's opinion of the case initially led ''The Wall Street Journal'' to editorialize against the allegations."Berger's Plea", Editorial, ''Wall Street Journal'', April 6, 2005^[7]
On December 20, 2006, more than a year after Berger plead guilty and was sentenced, a report issued by the archives inspector detailed how Berger had perpetrated the crime. Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that Berger took a break to go outside without an escort. "In total, during this visit, he removed four documents ... Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)." Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.Lichtblau, Eric, "Report Details Archives Theft by Ex-Adviser", ''New York Times'', December 21, 2006Margasak, Larry, "Report Says Berger Hid Archive Documents", ''Associated Press'', December 20, 2006
The report also stated "There were not any handwritten notes on the documents Mr. Berger removed from the archives. Mr. Berger did not believe there was unique information in the three documents he destroyed. Mr. Berger never made any copies of these documents." In the end, according to the report, "[Mr. Berger] substituted his sense of sensitivity instead of thinking of classification" in deciding to remove the documents.^[8]
In January 2007, departing Republican staff of The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a report titled ''Sandy Berger's Theft of Classified Documents: Unanswered Questions''. It states that the FBI or the Department of Justice never questioned Berger about two earlier visits he made on May 30, 2002 and July 18, 2003, when he reviewed White House working papers not yet inventoried by the National Archives, and speculates that, had Berger previously been entirely successful in actions at which he was later caught, "nobody would know they were gone." It also contains the FBI's statement as to why they concluded there was no exposure on those dates: "Berger was under constant supervision".''Sandy Berger's Theft of Classified Documents: Unanswered Questions'', U.S. House of Representatives, January 9, 2007Margasak, Larry, "GOP Contradicts Justice Department", ''Associated Press'', January 10 2007''Justice Dept. Conduct in Berger Case Questioned'', Chairman Henry A. Waxman, August 6, 2004
The report did, however, cause the ''Wall Street Journal'' to, in January 2007, retract their initial opinion of the case, saying there are substantial questions concerning the truth of Berger's statements and that other documents may have been removed. They now argue that Berger's taking of multiple copies of the same document contradict his statement that he took them only for his personal research, since they note that he could have simply taken one copy."The Berger Files: The Case of the Purloined Archives Gets Stranger All the Time", ''Wall Street Journal'', January 13, 2007^[9] Mr. Berger continues to insist that he took the copies of the same document for personal convenience, and thought them overclassified (i.e. the information they contained was not actually sensitive to national security).
On May 17, 2007, Berger relinquished his license to practice law as a result of the Justice Deptartment investigation. Saying, "I have decided to voluntarily relinquish my license." He added that, "While I derived great satisfaction from years of practicing law, I have not done so for 15 years and do not envision returning to the profession. I am very sorry for what I did, and I deeply apologize." By giving up his license, Berger avoided cross-examinination by the Bar Counsel regarding details of his thefts.^[10]

See also

★ History of the United States National Security Council 1993-2003

★ Iraq disarmament crisis timeline 1997-2000

★ Mary McCarthy (CIA)

References

1. Limbaugh: Sandy Berger incident "far worse" than Abu Ghraib
2. Sandy Berger Rolls Over for Bill and Hill
3. Conservatives baselessly linked Sandy Berger to Atta investigation
4. Why I Never Should Have Had Sandy Berger on 'The Big Story'
5. The speaker speaks
6. Berger fined for taking papers Jerry Seper
7. The Berger File
8. Office of the Inspector General, National Archives and Records Administration report (page 9)
9. Smith, R. Jeffrey, Berger Case Still Roils Archives, Justice Dept., Washington Post, February 21, 2007
10. Clinton aide forfeits law license in Justice Probe

External links

★ Archives Staff Was Suspicious of Berger Washington Post

★ United States National Security Council page at the White House website

★ Report on Berger (PDF), Office of the Inspector General, National Archives and Records Administration