# Why did Sandy Berger steal those archive documents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016 "2006-12-21T03:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/21 "2006-12-22T14:39:15Z")
His lawyer says he didn’t. No one has any evidence or any reason to believe he did. That’s pretty much the end of it. The suggestion is ludicrous, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/22 "2006-12-22T15:33:39Z")
He admitted to destroying documents. There are only two possibilities: he’s a complete nut job or he was destroying materials incriminating to himself or the Clinton administration. He should be in prison and the prosecutor who agreed to the plea bargain should have been fired. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/23 "2006-12-22T16:01:34Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] His lawyer says he didn’t. No one has any evidence or any reason to believe he did. That’s pretty much the end of it. The suggestion is ludicrous, IMO. [/QUOTE] And by the same token, Nixon obviously wasn’t a crook. I mean come on - he _said_ so. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/24 "2006-12-22T18:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] The suggestion is ludicrous, IMO. [/QUOTE] The suggestion that someone of Berger’s stature would steal documents by stuffing them into his socks, and hide other documents under a trailer at a construction site, are also ludicrous. But true. He admitted so. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/25 "2006-12-22T19:39:23Z")
[QUOTE=KSO] He admitted to destroying documents. There are only two possibilities: he’s a complete nut job or he was destroying materials incriminating to himself or the Clinton administration. He should be in prison and the prosecutor who agreed to the plea bargain should have been fired. [/QUOTE] He admitted to destroying COPIES of documents. There is no evidence that any original documents were destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/26 "2006-12-22T19:58:34Z")
**Diogenes** , if this had been a Republican operative there would be _no way in hell_ you would be taking his claims at face value. Blind partisanship is ugly regardless of which side you’re on. That there may be no way of knowing exactly what he destroyed doesn’t make it stink any less. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/27 "2006-12-22T20:34:02Z")
Berger certainly _acted_ suspiously, hiding the documents under a trailer to retrieve them later. I mean, WTH? He was acting like someone with something to hide, which makes me ask…what was so all-fired incriminating he felt he needed to act the way he did? And don’t tell me he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to take anything out of the archives. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/28 "2006-12-22T20:40:03Z")
I believe there was something in the documents that shed an unfavorable light on President Clinton. Perhaps it was President Clinton wanting to turn a blind eye re the U.S.S. Cole, or perhaps it was something way more damning. We’ll never know. I simply don’t believe Berger when he says it was all innocuous. He’s already proven to be a thief. Being a liar isn’t a stretch. Incidentally, I also believe that someone in the Bush camp stole those infamous Coast Guard timesheets before the '04 election. Do I have proof? Not a shred. Sometimes you just don’t need to actually see it with your own eyes to know that there’s a pile of dogshit nearby. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/29 "2006-12-22T21:09:29Z")
No cite for this, but I happened across Rush Limbaugh one day a while ago and he commented that he was so much concerned with what Berger took _from_ the Archives, but what he _took in_. He was planting evidence to exonerate someone. Or incriminate someone. Someone else who was not involved with whatever it was Berger was trying to cover up. Probably the Clintons, those despicable miscreants. **Diogenes** , if this were a Republican who took documents you’d be howling. Take a step back and think about it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/30 "2006-12-22T21:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] In addition, there were apparently handwritten notes on some of the copies, and those are lost. [/QUOTE] Good old reliable Sammy, never letting [the](http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006521) [facts](http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006534) get in the way of a good anti-Democrat conspiracy theory. :rolleyes: **Daddy** , that’s a pretty creative one, give Limbaugh credit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/31 "2006-12-22T22:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] **Diogenes** , if this had been a Republican operative there would be _no way in hell_ you would be taking his claims at face value. [/quote] If the known facts were the same, I wouldn;t be making any big deal out of it. > [@](#): > > Blind partisanship is ugly regardless of which side you’re on. That there may be no way of knowing exactly what he destroyed doesn’t make it stink any less. I’m not a Democrat. I have no allegiance to any party. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/32 "2006-12-22T22:23:03Z")
**Turnip** , from the first Wall Street Journal editorial (!) I linked: > [@](#): > > So we called Justice Department Public Integrity chief prosecutor Noel Hillman, who assured us that Mr. Berger did not deny any documents to history. “There is no evidence that he intended to destroy originals,” said Mr. Hillman. “There is no evidence that he did destroy originals. We have objectively and affirmatively confirmed that the contents of all the five documents at issue exist today and were made available to the 9/11 Commission.” What was that about “blind partisanship” again? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/33 "2006-12-22T23:12:54Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] **Turnip** , from the first Wall Street Journal editorial (!) I linked:What was that about “blind partisanship” again? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Going back to the OP, then WHY did he steal them? ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016/34 "2006-12-23T15:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Then, after he realized the nosy, busy body archive staff had been spying on him and ratted him out, he panicked and tried to get rid of them. [QUOTE] Yes, boy were they stupid for watching him closely. You know, because he turned out to be so trustworthy and all. Jesus, you drink the purple Kool-Aid by the gallon, don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-sandy-berger-steal-those-archive-documents/385016.md?page=1)