SF Examiner: He’s back: Sandy Berger now advising Hillary Clinton

[Amerigo Vespucci]

He’s back: Sandy Berger now advising Hillary Clinton
Oct 8, 2007 12:00 AM
by Bill Sammon, The Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/a-977346~He_s_back__Sandy_Berger_now_advising_Hillary_Clinton.html

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sandy Berger, who stole highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, destroyed them and lied to investigators, is now an adviser to presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Berger, who was fired from John Kerry’s presidential campaign when the scandal broke in 2004, has assumed a similar role in Clinton’s campaign, even though his security clearance has been suspended until September 2008. This is raising eyebrows even among Clinton’s admirers.

“It shows poor judgment and a lack of regard for Berger’s serious misdeeds,” said law professor Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University, who nonetheless called Clinton “by far the most impressive candidate in the Democratic field.”

Adler told The Examiner that it is “simply incomprehensible to me that a serious contender for the presidency would rely upon him as a key foreign policy advisor.”

He added: “If Senator Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee, at some point she will begin to receive national security briefings that will include sensitive information. At such a point, continuing to keep Berger on board as a key advisor, where he might have access to sensitive material, would be beyond incomprehensible.”



(Charles Dharapak/AP)
Former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger is shown leaving federal court Thu, Sept. 8, 2005 in Washington in this file photo. A judge had ordered Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser, to pay a $50,000 fine for illegally taking classified documents from the National Archives. Berger is now an adviser to Hillary Clinton.

[jmp]

1. What can I say?

I'm not surprised in the least.

[PretzelzRule]

15. yes, exactly, here's my suprised face:

:|

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. LOL!

That's the first time I sprayed my computer monitor.

Here's a similar thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1998909&mesg_id=1998909

[bigdarryl]

2. And if she wins it all I predict he will be in her administration and she talks about CHANGE

what a joke and you actually have voters thinking she is the most candidate of change. we deserve the government we get

[Lerkfish]

3. not for nothing, but did he do the Kerry campaign any good?

I'm really amazed that political consultants can fail ABYSMALLY and still get rehired again and again.

[razorman]

4. Let's be honest. If any Repub had done what Sandy Berger did,

we would all be outraged and demanding prison for him (and rightfully so). This will only give the R's a legitimate club to hit the Clinton campaign with. Can Hillary really be blind to the effect this will have?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. The freeps love Berger-bashing.

This story's publication is the equivalent of dropping a big, fat rock into their crack pipe. It's a GOP Christmas in October.

Remember Karl Rove's parting shot against Hillary, back in August? The Berger story will be used to back those statements up. It's the Karl Rove Playbook. It's Swift Boating 101. It's how things are done in the GOP.

Rove says Clinton flawed presidential candidate
Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:59am EDT

By Steve Holland

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN1523964720070815

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's political adviser Karl Rove says Democrat Hillary Clinton is a flawed presidential candidate and Republicans face a difficult environment in 2008 but can keep the White House.

"There is no candidate on record, a front-runner for a party's nomination, who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has," Rove said in the telephone interview from Texas.

"She's not like a fresh and new character. She's someone who has been essentially known to the American people for 16 years. It's going to be hard to change the perceptions that people have had," he said.

Rove carefully avoided mentioning what those perceptions are, but many Republicans consider her a calculating political opportunist, and a liberal who tried to take America to an overly bureaucratic health care system when she was first lady.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. A Freeper Wrote The Article

Bill Sammon is senior White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner (having left the same position at The Washington Times in February 2006), a political analyst for Fox News Channel, and the author of four New York Times bestsellers: At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election; Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the White House; Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias and the Bush Haters; and Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media. He is a frequent guest on shows like Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Sunday and Hannity & Colmes.

A graduate of Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Bill lives in Maryland with his wife Becky and their five children.

Source: Bill Sammon at Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon

I want to see an independent confirmation from a dispassionate source before I make any conclusions...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

11. Like I said...

...go to Google:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=Sandy+Berger&btnG=Search

:patriot:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. You Should Have Used That Source

How could one not be suspicious of an article written by Bill Sammon that attacks Democrats?

As for the substance of the charge the Clintons shouldn't be in the same room with Sandy Burger....

That being said he was their friend...He's an unpaid adviser...Should they shun him?


Maybe

I don't know...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. "Raw Story"

That's why I used it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Frankly, if I were Berger and a right-wing hitman completely

mangled the story, I'd be suing him for libel.

[Schema Thing]

5. makes you wonder if he took the keys to the kingdom, eh?

[Mother Of Four]

6. *Sigh*

To keep myself from seeming like I'm bashing, the only thing I can say is this. "What on earth?"


What possible explanation could there be for this?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. This Article Is Written By Bill Sammon

Bill Sammon is senior White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner (having left the same position at The Washington Times in February 2006), a political analyst for Fox News Channel, and the author of four New York Times bestsellers: At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election; Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the White House; Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias and the Bush Haters; and Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media. He is a frequent guest on shows like Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News Sunday and Hannity & Colmes.

A graduate of Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Bill lives in Maryland with his wife Becky and their five children.

Source: Bill Sammon at Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Sammon

I want to see an independent confirmation from a dispassionate source before I make any conclusions...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. Multiple sources available on Google News

The only reason I posted the Sammon story is that I found the link on Raw Story's front page. I don't know what would satisfy your criteria of "an independent confirmation from a dispassionate source" so I'll let you check out Google News and find it for yourself.

It's on CNN's "Political Ticker" (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/08/2396/), although Senator Clinton's name is misspelled:

CLITON CAMPAIGN BRINGS ON CONTROVERSIAL ADVISER: Sandy Berger, who stole highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, destroyed them and lied to investigators, is now an adviser to presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. DC Examiner: He's Back: Sandy Berger Now Advising Hillary Clinton

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. The Link Goes Back To The Original Article

That would be like linking the text to the Protecols Of The Elders Of Zion to substantiate its veracity...

I'll wait for an independent confirmation...

[Colobo]

13. Why is Hillary doing this?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. Does It Bother You The Author Of The Article Wrote That Gore Tried To Steal The OO Election?

eom

[Colobo]

16. It does. However, it would bother me much more if

the story is true. Sandy Berger is not a good guy.

[rucky]

19. You HAVE to get a better source for this.

Bill Sammon is scum

[zulchzulu]

20. The creepy part about Berger is what evidence he admittedly destroyed

The source of the story is from CNN, which gets their polling data from Vinod Gupta's InfoUSA. Gupta has given millions to the Clinton family over the years, so there should be no complaints from the Hillarylanders*.

:popcorn:

At that time, he said the reason he took the documents was so he could prepare himself and others to assist the 9/11 commission, which investigated the circumstances surrounding the 2001 terrorist attacks and published a report of its findings last year.

The documents taken by Berger dealt with the terror threats during the 2000 millennium celebration, according to parties in the case.

According to the charges, Berger -- between September 2 and October 2, 2003 -- "knowingly removed classified documents from the National Archives and Records Administration and stored and retained such documents at places," such as his private Washington office.

Berger's associates admit he took five copies of an after-action report detailing the 2000 millennium terror plot from the Archives. The aides say Berger returned to his office, discovered that three of the copies appeared to be duplicates and cut them up with scissors.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/08/berger.sentenced/

* Patti Solis Doyle referred to Hillaryland in her interview on yesterday's Murdoch-owned Faux Snooze Nitwitwork.
http://www.foxnews.com/fns/

[ncabot22]

21. But but but

Hillary is the one with the experience and the judgment! :sarcasm:

[Nimrod2005]

24. Here we go again...What's wrong with these people?

[populistdriven]

25. This is a Gift to RW Media Profit$$$ Fox News Thanks You HILLARY!!!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

27. I Thought Fox Loved Hillary

Wasn't that the message I was supposed to get when I have that stupid picture of her and Rupert Murdoch shoved in my face every day...

[Yukari Yakumo]

26. Who do we believe now?

Sen. Clinton: Sandy Berger has 'no official role in my campaign'

"I have thousands of unofficial advisers," said Clinton, "and, you know, I appreciate all of that. But he has no official role in my campaign."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

30. Raw Story...the source of my original post...has a link to this on their front page

...and they removed the earlier link, which was the source of my post.

They chose to post the earlier story, and because Raw Story...along with Huffington Post, Crooks & Liars, Media Matters, etc...has a certain level of credibility on DU, I passed it on. If they were too fast in posting the original without verifying it, well...that's a matter for those concerned to take up with Raw Story.

:shrug:

[ronnykmarshall]

28. The SF Examiner?

You might as well called Rush.

[jgraz]

29. I don't know which is worse: that she's hoping people don't notice

or that she's hoping people don't care.


Another sad, cynical decision by our "inevitable" nominee.