That’s one possibility. Another is that the Pubs (who effectively control the Justice Department at present) have some inkling of what information Berger destroyed and they, for their own reasons, want it kept under wraps just as badly as he did.
No, no, no. I had a Top Secret SI. I still was not allowed to see anything that did not directly pertain to my job, and was necessary to do that job. In private industry I had Secret. Again, I could not look at anything that was not required to do my job. In any case, even the need to know and the right clearance level does not allow you to remove a single thing from the secure area, except under the strictest controls. Even the President himself is subject to these rules.
I could give you others, but this page is pretty comprehensive and accessible for people not trained in these arcane matters. Scroll backwards and forwards for more.
Thank you for the cite, Mr. Moto. I want to emphasize too, that where the cite talks about background checks, they really do interview your friends, neighbors, relatives, etc, and they do go back 5 to 10 years depending on the clearance level. Even something as common as having too many speeding tickets can get your clearance denied.
My father was in the Air Force and worked for NSA in the '70s. He often had to courier classified documents from Fort Meade to the Pentagon and back. He was not required to put them in a locked briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, he just put them in his coat pocket. But he was always required, when carrying such documents, to carry a .38 in a shoulder holster. And presumably (though he hasn’t mentioned that) he had orders to kill someone before allowing the documents to be taken off his person.
My brother pointed out something interesting about this case: Berg has been stripped of his security clearance for three years – the exact period that would allow him to take a high-security post in the next administration, should it be a Democratic one. Either furt is right about the “one of us” mentality, or dude’s got one brilliant lawyer!
“If I were king”, he would have a very prominent “letter of direction” or something in his personnel files or work record or whatever political cronies have. It would be a directive that Berger shall never have any clearance whatsoever. Permanently denied, in advance of any request. But then, “if I were king” he would have faced serious charges for breach of security and failure to follow proceduer, not just a slap on the wristh.
It was leaked to the press back in July, by whom I know not. But the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal (email registration may be necessary – they don’t spam you), not known for being easy on members of the Clinton administration, is reporting that prosecuter in the case asserts that there were no marginalia; indeed, that the various versions were printed at the archives from a computerized version of each draft of the document.
Based on this I believe the outcome of the case to be just.
As to why he’d destroy the documents? Same reason Martha Stewart altered her records and altered them back. When people get caught doing something wrong, even just a little wrong, they often turn temporarily stupid and do something wronger in the process.