Unanswered Questions

A hat tip to Scott Johnson at Powerline, who alerted us (and much of the blogosphere) to this illuminating column on the Berger scandal by Ronald Cass, Dean Emeritus of the Boston University School of Law. Professor Cass notes--as have we--that there are too many unanswered questions about the Mr. Berger and his efforts to remove sensitive documents from the National Archives. What was on the documents that were removed and destroyed? What embarassing revelations did they contain? Why was Mr. Berger willing to risk criminal sanctions for an "errand" that was approved by his former boss, Bill Clinton.

Unfortunately, with the Democrats now in control of Congress, those queries will go unanswered. And, as Professor Cass observes, there seems little chance that the MSM will conduct its own, independent probe of the affair. From his perspective, the press has little interest in going after a former Clinton official; their "coverage" of his illegal activities has largely consisted of printing press releases issued by federal prosecutors. Indeed, the media watchdogs never bothered to ask why the Bush Justice Department's suggested "punishment" was even lighter than what the federal judge imposed.

We can only hope that scholars of Professor Cass's stature continue to ask the tough questions about the Berger scandal, and it eventually lights a fire under someone. Mr. Berger has already had his day in court, but the American people deserve to know how the historical and public policy record might have been changed by his foray into the National Archives.

Here's our take on the potential damage from the Berger affair, published last month. Since then, nothing we've read or seen has allayed our fears that some of our most sensitive intelligence information may have been compromised in this scandal.