I thought this was over already - Sandy Burger pants stuffing related

Stylerod · 10-11-2006, 04:50 PM

But I guess not.

Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, said the Justice Department had asked Congress to hold off on any oversight until the legal case concluded.

So now Congress starts their investigation I guess.

A group of House Republicans called Wednesday for a congressional investigation into the improper handling of classified documents by President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger.

Berger admitted last year that he deliberately took classified documents out of the National Archives in 2003 and destroyed some of them at his office. He pleaded guilty in federal court to one charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material and was fined $50,000.

Ten lawmakers led by House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R- Calif., and Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., released a letter calling for the House Government Reform Committee to investigate.

They asked the committee to determine whether any documents were missing from Clinton administration terrorism records, to review security measures for classified documents and to seek testimony from Berger.

Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, said the Justice Department had asked Congress to hold off on any oversight until the legal case concluded.

"It's important that the House conduct its own review to ensure there is a clear understanding of the facts, and sensitive and highly classified security information is not potentially compromised in the future," Kasper said.

Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, did not immediately return a call for comment. A spokesman for the Government Reform Committee said the panel was reviewing the letter.

At issue is a strange sequence of events in which Berger admitted to sneaking classified documents out of the National Archives in his suit, later destroying some of them and then lying about it. The Bush administration disclosed the investigation in July 2004, just days before the Sept. 11 commission issued its final report.

During Berger's sentencing hearing Breuer characterized Berger as eager to get the facts of the Sept. 11 attacks right when he took the material, which contained information relating to terror threats in the United States during the 2000 millennium celebration.

This was such a weird thing anyway.

Stylerod · 10-11-2006, 04:51 PM

I misspelled Berger

6SpeedTA95 · 10-11-2006, 05:02 PM

The guy disposed of numerous documents that were compiled during the Clinton years, which makes it awfully convenient for them to point fingers at the current administration on issues they potentially missed.

kinggovernor · 10-11-2006, 06:37 PM

why did they want a year to ask for this

RMNIXON · 10-11-2006, 07:06 PM

Clinton more than anyone has brought attention to this issue. Now the Republicans want a to play a little pre-election hardball by bringing this up again. Also watch for more stories of the Clinton bungled North Korea deals. It's politics, but it's fair game!

6SpeedTA95 · 10-11-2006, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

Clinton more than anyone has brought attention to this issue. Now the Republicans want a to play a little pre-election hardball by bringing this up again. Also watch for more stories of the Clinton bungled North Korea deals. It's politics, but it's fair game!

I bet the huge majority of media outlets try to let most of it slip by the wayside unless its such a huge deal that it would just kill them to not cover it.