Thread by @BeekmanCruger

1) This is a thread about the same old problems at DOJ, a missing Clinton hard drive and a determined Inspector General who got Swamped.
Shout out again to folks like @TheLastRefuge2 @DaveNYviii @drawandstrike @ThomasWictor

2) First things first, rewind to that crazy story in October 2003 when Bill Clinton’s former NSA Sandy Berger actually stole classified information from a National Archives reading room prior to testifying before the 9/11 Commission.

3) He purportedly shoved documents in his pants and maybe even stuffed them in his socks. Really.

4)Once outside the reading room, he actually hid the documents under a trailer in a construction area only to retrieve them later and take them to his office. Oh, he also lied to investigators about it before finally coming clean. All that happened.

5) He pled guilty to only a misdemeanor . No jail time. $50,000 fine. 100 hours of community service and he lost his security clearance…for 3 years. Not 300 years. He shoved classified materials in his socks!

6)The investigation into Berger was led by the then-Inspector General of the National Archives…one Paul Brachfeld. Paul Brachfeld. Remember this name. He’s one of the good guys.

7) The facts of the case and the subsequent downplaying by the DOJ are remarkable. This WaPo piece from 2007 is a must read: washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content…

8) FBI was notified of the case but didn’t interview Berger until over a year later. Probably didn’t matter because the National Archives lawyer Gary Stern (remember that name) had already worked a shady deal with Berger’s lawyer (Clinton pal Lanny Breuer)

All throughout, Brachfeld is screaming from the rooftops.
In 2004, he convinces the DOJ OIG Glenn Fine (Horowitz’s predecessor) to amplify the Berger case at the DOJ.

10) He at least wants the 9/11 Commission to finally hear the whole story. Nope. DOJ continues to stonewall. Sound familiar? The WaPo article interviews members of the 9/11 Commission who are alarmed they didn’t hear everything.

11) Berger finally gets interviewed by the Mueller-led FBI in March 2005 (!). He takes his slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor in April 2005. Remarkable.

12) Here’s an April 2011 clip of Brachfeld discussing the Berger case during a panel. He obviously wants to tell the whole story but is STILL restrained. “Maybe someday…,” he hints. Would love for someone like @dbongino to get him on his podcast. c-span.org/video/?c472807…

13) In late 2008, a scandal brews behind the scenes at National Archives and it goes to the highest level. Allen Weinstein, the head of the entire National Archives and ostensibly Brachfeld’s boss, is accused of sexual harassment. Uh oh.

14) Instead of following normal protocol, that same damned Archives lawyer Gary Stern doesn’t report the charge to IG Brachfeld instead going to the Bush WH Counsel.

15)That might be because Allen Weinstein is not just your normal neighborhood Archivist. He’s a VERY well-connected Swamp creature who was appointed by Bush and had close connections to Senators like Dick Luger and lobbyists like Paul Manafort and Peter Kelly.

16) Here’s IG Brachfeld’s report on the Sexual Harrassment charges against his boss from early 2009. documentcloud.org/documents/4365…

17) As outlined in this excellent article by @AnthonyJClark it was a slam dunk case…BUT the DOJ decided not to prosecute!
thedailybeast.com/she-was-assaul…

18)That decision by the DOJ Office of Public Integrity (led by William Welch II – the guy who led the wrongful conviction of Ted Stevens) may have been the result of pressure from the Bush WH as outlined in the @thedailybeast article

19) Let’s check back with our hero who is quoted in the story: ““When asked why the case ended without prosecution, Brachfeld said, “I presented the Department of Justice with a good, tight case. What they decided to do with it after that was up to them.”

20) What the DOJ decided to do was allow Weinstein to quietly resign citing “health reasons”. He took a job in academia for 18 months until he was fired for SEXUALLY ASSAULTING a student! Good job, DOJ. I hope that student sues every person at DOJ associated with this disaster.

21) Weinstein died of pneumonia in June 2015. “His successor, David Ferriero—who, a National Archives source confirmed, knew the real reason Weinstein had resigned—warmly memorialized him…”.

22) It should be clear by now that IG Paul Brachfeld was unafraid to faithfully perform the duties of an Inspector General at National Archives. Unfortunately, that made him unpopular with the leaders and others at the agency.

23) From the WaPo article, one of the Archive lawyers emailed Brachfeld, "I don't think it comes as a great surprise if I were to venture the opinion that senior management at this agency have serious problems with the manner in which your office conducted itself…” Wow.

24) Yet another scandal hits the National Archives in March 2009 and it’s a biggie…and will also sound familiar. A 2 Terabyte hard drive containing volumes of data and classified documents from the Clinton presidency disappears from the National Archives facility in Maryland.

25) Once again, IG Brachfeld goes to work and opens a criminal investigation. What he uncovers is outrageous. The National Archives, tasked with protecting the country’s most important documents including the related to national security, really has no security.

26) The missing hard drive was stored on a shelf in an unlocked room that was used by employees as a shortcut to the bathrooms. They don’t even really know when the hard drive was removed.

27) The National Archives facility in question has no security cameras in this area. An estimated 100+ people came and went in the area and had easy access to the hard drive (and other sensitive materials).

28) IG Brachfeld is rightfully stunned. He briefs members Congress of a “potentially catastrophic lack of internal controls at National Archives.” oversight.house.gov/wp-content/upl…

29) Brachfeld and his investigators interrogated the employee in charge of handling the missing drive. She FAILS A LIE DETECTOR TEST. While investigators are at her home, her son leaves with a laptop and refuses to turn it over to the IG investigators. oversight.house.gov/release/a-stol…

30) Here’s Brachfeld’s full testimony to Congress in July 2009: gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG…

31) After his explosive testimony to Congress, Brachfeld goes on Federal News Radio in November 2009 to continue to sound the alarm. First 10 minutes is about Clinton hard drive: …p3quc9y5ifaw3-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/upl…

32) By the way, no prosecution in this case either and the Archives still have a Reward page up for the missing Clinton hard drive: archives.gov/press/press-re…

33) What happened next to the indefatigable IG Paul Brachfeld is truly awful. After years of doing his job as the IG for the National Archives, his enemies there finally get the best of him in September 2012: washingtonpost.com/politics/decis…

34)This is how the Swamp works. He’s put on administrative leave by the same Obama-appointed Archivist who is still in place today. The same Archivist who handles the types FOIA requests frequently sought by @JudicialWatch and @FreedomWatchUSA by the way.

35) Another hero emerges to stand up for Paul Brachfeld during this time and it should come as no surprise who it is….

36) In July 2013, the OG for the IG ™ sends one of his letters to Ferreiro to ask why he’s kept Brachfeld on the sideline for nearly a year with no due process.

37) He sends Ferreiro an even stronger worded letter in February 2014 demanding answers why Brachfeld was STILL on administrative leave especially given that the bogus allegations against him were basically unfounded.

38) Start on page 24 on this doc to read the Grassley letters to Ferreiro about Brachfeld: grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/…

39) Brachfeld never gets his job back. He ends up retiring in August 2014 after being sidelined for almost 2 years. Despite the insinuations of wrongdoing in this WaPo piece, he maintained his innocence and Grassley’s letters seem to corroborate that: washingtonpost.com/news/federal-e…

40) I truly hope Paul Brachfeld gets a chance to tell his story. END/