Dead Drop

As details about Sandy Berger's pilfering of documents from the National Archives in 2003 came out yesterday, the image morphed from bumbling boob to intentional thievery. Mike McLellan at the Arizona Republic had an interesting commentary:

Well, the truth came out recently about what he actually did, which was closer to Inspector Clousseau than James Bond. The Archives staff was suspicious of him because of his behavior and kept track of his movements while there. What happened was this: he stole the documents, took them outside and put them under a construction trailer, came back later, tore them into little pieces, and threw them away.

Which begs the question, still: Why did Berger risk his reputation (and possibly very serious charges) to get those documents? They related to security issues at the turn of the century. What was in them that Berger went to such great lengths to hide?

Well, okay maybe bumbling boob still works. Regardless, what's unbelievable is that the press so cavalierly ignores what happened here.