If ever the actions by a high-ranking government official begged for a skit on Saturday Night Live (the old-school version, oh do we miss it so!), the most recent revelations in the former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger saga are it. Better yet, maybe a plotline for a new Seinfeld episode…
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What a story– Former government hack, involved in an investigation that might make him, or worse yet, his boss and chief benefactor, look bad, accepts a mission to get back on the "inside" and dispose of key evidence. Sounds almost the stuff of some action-adventure novel. Except, in this case, we’re talking about a rumpled, bumbling slob of a man, who breaks into a sweat when asked difficult questions like, "What is your name," and, "Is that a rolled-up document in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"
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Yes indeed, Sandy "Samuel" Burger, or, as he is now affectionately called, Sandy "Burglar" has provided no small amount of laughter (we probably ought to, in fact, be crying) as the story of his theft of national security documents unfolds.
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You remember the tale: Sandy Berger, while preparing for testimony before the 9-11 Commission, got caught removing key documents by stuffing them in his shorts and socks. As new evidence comes forth, the comedic value just gets even better. Consider this AP report on the matter and tell me you can’t picture some George Costanza- type actor in the role of Sandy Berger:
Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that National Archives employees spotted Berger bending down and fiddling with something white around his ankles. The employees did not feel at the time there was enough information to confront someone of Berger’s stature, the report said..Later, when Berger was confronted by Archives officials about the missing documents, he lied by saying he did not take them, the report said. Brachfeld’s report included an investigator’s notes, taken during an interview with Berger. The notes dramatically described Berger’s removal of documents during an Oct. 2, 2003, visit to the Archives.Berger took a break to go outside without an escort while it was dark. He had taken four documents in his pockets. "He headed toward a construction area. … Mr. Berger looked up and down the street, up into the windows of the Archives and the DOJ (Department of Justice), and did not see anyone," the interview notes said.
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He then slid the documents under a construction trailer, according to the inspector general. Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.
"He was aware of the risk he was taking," the inspector general’s notes said. Berger then returned to the Archives building without fearing the documents would slip out of his pockets or that staff would notice that his pockets were bulging..The notes said Berger had not been aware that Archives staff had been tracking the documents he was provided because of earlier suspicions from previous visits that he was removing materials. Also, the employees had made copies of some documents..In October 2003, the report said, an Archives official called Berger to discuss missing documents from his visit two days earlier. The investigator’s notes said, "Mr. Berger panicked because he realized he was caught.".The notes said that Berger had "destroyed, cut into small pieces, three of the four documents. These were put in the trash.".After the trash had been picked up, Berger "tried to find the trash collector but had no luck," the notes said.
What a dope! And just think, this guy was IN CHARGE of our Nation’s security… Tell me again why we would even consider another Clinton administration?
