Now that we know more about Berger’s unmistakably intentional actions, it’s worth remembering what documents he took. From a story I did in July 2004:
It is not clear why Berger would focus solely on the millennium-plot report. But it is clear that the report has been the object of intense discussions during the September 11 investigation.
The report was the result of a review done by Richard Clarke, then the White House counterterrorism chief, of efforts by the Clinton administration to stop terrorist plots at the turn of the year 2000. At several points in the September 11 commission hearings, Democrats pointed to the millennium case as an example of how a proper counterterrorism program should be run. But sources say the report suggests just the opposite. Clarke apparently concluded that the millennium plot was foiled by luck—a border agent in Washington State who happened to notice a nervous, sweating man who turned out to have explosives in his car—and not by the Clinton administration’s savvy anti-terrorism work. The report also contains a number of recommendations to lessen the nation’s vulnerability to terrorism, but few were actually implemented.