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class=437585520-09082004>Transcript from this morning's (August 9) <EM>Morning
Edition </EM>below. <SPAN class=531060621-09082004>A</SPAN>pparently, he's not
out of the woods yet.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=2>**********************************************<BR>Ron
Force Moscow ID <SPAN
class=531060621-09082004><FONT face=Arial>USA</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN class=531060621-09082004></SPAN><FONT size=2> rforce@<SPAN
class=531060621-09082004><FONT
face=Arial> moscow.com </FONT></SPAN><BR>**********************************************</FONT>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><!--StartFragment --> Congress is on vacation, but the people
left behind in Washington, DC, are still talking about 9/11 hearings, terror
alerts and Sandy Berger<STRONG>.</STRONG> President Clinton's national
security adviser acknowledges removing classified records from the National
Archives last year as he was preparing to testify before the 9-11 Commission.
No original documents are missing; even so, Sandy Berger faces two probes for
his actions, one of them criminal. NPR's Libby Lewis reports.<BR class=br><BR
class=br>LIBBY LEWIS reporting:<BR class=br><BR class=br>Sandy Berger may have
violated several federal laws by taking from the archives some drafts of a
Clinton-era memo on national security that were written for him and by taking
and removing his own notes on classified material. Berger has said his actions
were inadvertent. Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School
says it would be surprising to see Berger charged with a crime. That doesn't
mean he won't be punished. <BR class=br><BR class=br>Mr. JONATHAN TURLEY
(George Washington University Law School): These cases tend to militate
against criminal charges. If Berger's case follows the trend, he won't be
prosecuted, but there still remains a question as to whether he will ever hold
a clearance again.<BR class=br><BR class=br>LEWIS: Now what about the serious
questions some Republican leaders raised when the story broke? Did Sandy
Berger try to hide or, worse, destroy information about the Clinton
administration's handling of terrorism? At the time, House Majority Leader Tom
DeLay suggested Berger's action might have created a national security crisis.
The Justice Department assured the 9-11 Commission that it saw every document
Berger had access to in the archives and that no original documents were
missing. That's according to Al Felzenberg, a spokesman for the 9-11
Commission. Susan Cooper of the National Archives also confirmed to NPR that
no original documents are missing.<BR class=br><BR class=br>Even so, the House
Government Reform Committee is keeping up its inquiry of Berger's conduct. A
spokesman for the committee, Robert White, said the inquiry is important in
light of the push to adopt the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission. He said
the panel also wants to look at questions of security at the National
Archives. He declined to speak on tape.<BR class=br><BR class=br>Now it
appears the Justice Department is helping the House investigation by making
witnesses available. Witnesses are normally barred from talking until a
criminal probe is complete. On Friday, Democrat Henry Waxman wrote Attorney
General John Ashcroft to ask why the Justice Department had changed its policy
in this case. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.<BR
class=br><BR class=br>Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, said he hopes it means
the Justice Department has decided not to pursue the criminal case, but he
fears worse. After all, he said, politics has already seeped in, and it was
leaked to the press at a critical time, days before the 9-11 Commission issued
its report. Breuer said it's clear Berger's actions did no damage to the 9/11
investigation.<BR class=br><BR class=br>Mr. LANNY BREUER (Sandy Berger's
Lawyer): It's hard for a fair-minded person to conclude that there's any
reason that the Sandy <B>Berger</B> matter is now being looked at other than
because of partisan concerns in an election year.<BR class=br><BR
class=br>LEWIS: Republican House leaders deny Berger's party affiliation has
anything to do with its probe. In a letter to his Democratic colleague Henry
Waxman, Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis wrote, 'I don't care if it's
Sandy Berger or Warren Burger or veggie burger who walked off with code-word
documents. It's the walking off, the consequences of it, the fact that it
could happen that concern the committee.' Those partisan quips aside, Sandy
Berger's errors have left Berger disappointed and saddened, his lawyer
says.<BR class=br><BR class=br>Libby Lewis, NPR News, Washington.
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