What An Outrage
Friday, April 1st, 2005
Can the liberal media not even muster a little outrage over Sandy Berger’s theft and destruction of classified national security documents? Could they just manage a fraction of the outrage they displayed over the Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame claims?
From the AP story that Jayson linked, I do not know whether Berger will be required to disclose which documents he destroyed, but I am pretty outraged that he will be allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. I have quite a bit of experience dealing with large volume document production in civil litigation, as I have discussed in the past. When I first read of the Berger theft of documents I was amazed that such a thing could happen in a facility that is responsible for classified documents. Now I am amazed that a former NSA appears likely to get away with pilfering and destroying classified documents with a slap on the wrist. (And I am not the only one.)
If anything, Berger should be treated more harshly than a “common criminal” because there is no question that he knew what he was doing. I hope that part of his plea bargain at least requires him to reveal which documents were taken and which were destroyed, as well as the motives behind his actions. I don’t think there is much chance of that, but in my opinion, that is the least that he should be required to provide. This story says that “the charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.” I think Sandy Berger will be getting off easy if he receives the maximum sentence considering the gross abuse of trust he committed. I am willing to bet that he does not see the inside of a jail cell for even 5 minutes, though. I would not even be surprised to see him show up on Meet The Press or CNN as an expert on national security criticizing the Bush administration. Outraged? Yes. Suprised? No.
— Lorie Byrd