NY Daily News
Soxy Sandy Got Guards to Leave
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Former national security adviser Sandy Berger repeatedly persuaded monitors assigned to watch him review top secret documents to break the rules and leave him alone, sources said yesterday.
Berger, accused of smuggling some of the secret files out of the National Archives, got the monitors out of the high-security room by telling them he had to make sensitive phone calls.
"He was supposed to be monitored at all times but kept asking the monitor to leave so he could make private calls," a senior law enforcement source told the Daily News.
Berger also took "lots of bathroom breaks" that apparently aroused some suspicion, the source added.
It is standard security procedure to constantly monitor anyone with a security clearance who examines the type of code-word classified files stored in the underground archives vault in the building where tourists view the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Asked if guards left Berger alone in the classified reading room while he made calls, archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper replied, "I'm not going to say I haven't heard that."
The same archives monitors told the FBI that Berger was observed stuffing his socks with handwritten notes about files he reviewed that were going to the 9/11 panel. It is prohibited to make notes about the secret files and leave with them without special approval.
"Stuffed socks and pockets is real," the senior law enforcement official said. "The [theft] was reported by the guards."
Berger's attorney, Lanny Breuer, did not return a call seeking comment. Breuer has steadfastly denied the allegation that Berger hid papers in his socks.
With Democrats crying foul over the timing of the leak - days before the 9/11 commission final report and the kickoff of the Democratic Party's Boston convention - President Bush was pressed to say yesterday if he knew about the probe previously.
"I'm not going to comment on it," Bush said. "It's a very serious matter. It will be fully investigated by the Justice Department."
**Kerry and Clinton surrounding themselves with honest workers.
Soxy Sandy Got Guards to Leave
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Former national security adviser Sandy Berger repeatedly persuaded monitors assigned to watch him review top secret documents to break the rules and leave him alone, sources said yesterday.
Berger, accused of smuggling some of the secret files out of the National Archives, got the monitors out of the high-security room by telling them he had to make sensitive phone calls.
"He was supposed to be monitored at all times but kept asking the monitor to leave so he could make private calls," a senior law enforcement source told the Daily News.
Berger also took "lots of bathroom breaks" that apparently aroused some suspicion, the source added.
It is standard security procedure to constantly monitor anyone with a security clearance who examines the type of code-word classified files stored in the underground archives vault in the building where tourists view the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Asked if guards left Berger alone in the classified reading room while he made calls, archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper replied, "I'm not going to say I haven't heard that."
The same archives monitors told the FBI that Berger was observed stuffing his socks with handwritten notes about files he reviewed that were going to the 9/11 panel. It is prohibited to make notes about the secret files and leave with them without special approval.
"Stuffed socks and pockets is real," the senior law enforcement official said. "The [theft] was reported by the guards."
Berger's attorney, Lanny Breuer, did not return a call seeking comment. Breuer has steadfastly denied the allegation that Berger hid papers in his socks.
With Democrats crying foul over the timing of the leak - days before the 9/11 commission final report and the kickoff of the Democratic Party's Boston convention - President Bush was pressed to say yesterday if he knew about the probe previously.
"I'm not going to comment on it," Bush said. "It's a very serious matter. It will be fully investigated by the Justice Department."
**Kerry and Clinton surrounding themselves with honest workers.
