Kevin Drum, reacting to WaPo’s report “Archives Staff Was Suspicious of Berger,” correctly sums up the issue:
Let me get this straight: (a) he had already been caught removing documents on a previous visit, (b) Archives employees set up a special coding system for his second visit, (c) they were watching him like a hawk the whole time — and he must have known it since they had caught him once before, (d) they saw him taking dozens of pages of notes and didn’t stop him, (e) they saw him put those notes into his pockets, and (f) they must have also seen him put some documents in his portfolio as well.
But they let him walk out the door without challenging him. Why?
Agreed. As I noted yesterday, “A former NSA is entitled to be treated as if above suspicion. Until he’s not.” Clearly, once (a) above occured, the rest of the sequence should have proceeded differently. If they caught him with classified docs outside the room, the cuffs should have gone on, big shot or no.
