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Kerry Camp Accuses White House of Berger Leak
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites)'s presidential campaign accused the Bush White House on Wednesday of disclosing a criminal investigation against former national security adviser Sandy Berger for political gain, while Republican lawmakers announced their own probe of Berger.
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The Kerry campaign charged that the object of leaking the investigation of Berger for removing classified documents from the National Archives was to divert attention from a report to be issued on Thursday by the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The criminal investigation of Berger began last October but only came to light this week, prompting a partisan brawl over the actions of former President Bill Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser who until Tuesday was serving as an informal foreign policy adviser to Kerry.
"The timing of this leak suggests that the White House is more concerned about protecting its political hide than hearing what the commission has to say about strengthening our security," the Kerry campaign said in a memo distributed by e-mail.
Republicans have charged that Berger's actions could pose a breach of national security and some questioned whether the documents were taken to be used against Bush in the campaign.
In the Republican-led House of Representatives, the Government Reform Committee announced it will conduct its own investigation of Berger's actions.
"The American people deserve to know why Mr. Berger apparently skirted the law and removed highly classified terrorism documents, purportedly in his pants, from a secure reading room," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican.
Berger and one of his lawyers said on Monday he had inadvertently removed copies of a classified memo, as well as his notes on the material, as he reviewed it to determine what Clinton administration-era documents could be turned over to the Sept. 11 commission.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the White House had nothing to do with the disclosure that Berger was under investigation.
"I'm not aware of how this story came about. I know of no one in the White House that is aware of how this story came about," McClellan said.
He said officials in the White House legal counsel's office were made aware of the Berger investigation some time ago because they were in charge of putting together documents for the Sept. 11 commission to see.
Complaining of the "questionable timing" of the leak, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), Terry McAuliffe, filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the release of any correspondence between the Justice Department (news - web sites) and the White House on the Berger probe.
The Sept. 11 report is expected to detail as many as 10 missed opportunities to head off the Sept. 11 attacks but stop short of saying the attacks could have been prevented. |
