Berger Quits as an Adviser to Kerry

Kerry released a statement saying: "Sandy Berger is my friend, and he has tirelessly served this nation with honor and distinction. I respect his decision to step aside as an adviser to the campaign until this matter is resolved objectively and fairly."

Breuer said Berger removed the documents on Sept. 2 and Oct. 2, as he sifted through thousands of pages to determine which should be turned over to the commission. He said Berger inadvertently slipped drafts of the review -- each of which he said runs 12 to 15 pages -- into a leather portfolio he routinely carries.

Breuer said Berger also tucked handwritten notes he made from the classified documents into his pockets and removed them without allowing archives officials to review them, as required by law. He knew removing the handwritten notes was a violation, Breuer said, but he freely acknowledged having done so and turned the notes over when contacted by archives officials.

The National Archives has tight restrictions on the viewing of presidential materials, particularly classified documents, and normally does not allow researchers to bring portfolios or anything else with them. It is not clear why Berger was not held to those rules.

Archives officials discovered that some documents were missing after Berger's review of the files on Sept. 2, and again Oct. 2. The archives inspector general's office alerted Berger and former Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey, who is overseeing presidential documents. Berger returned two of the after-action drafts within days, according to his attorneys. Other drafts of the after-action document, they said, were apparently discarded. The archives inspector general began an investigation in October.

Breuer said he does not believe the Justice Department and the FBI are as interested in the handwritten notes as they are in the documents. "We have not been officially told how many documents they actually think are still missing," said David Fagen, another of Berger's attorneys. "We believe there are probably no more than two additional versions missing, but we don't know."

The FBI opened a criminal probe in January after receiving a referral from the archives inspector general. "This was not a routine investigation for this office for a number of factors," said Inspector General Paul Brachfeld, who declined to comment further.

The after-action memo was written by then-White House counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke and contained 29 recommendations about improving homeland security, including beefing up protections at the nation's ports and borders. The review pointed out flaws in the nation's counterterrorism efforts.

A source knowledgeable about the contents of the review said that it is classified "codeword" because it contains information about sensitive intelligence operations. The memo also contains sensitive fruits of wiretaps, intelligence sources said.

During the months leading up to Jan. 1, 2000, the CIA and foreign intelligence services learned of terrorist plans to attack targets in the United States and abroad. Jordanian intelligence thwarted a plot to blow up the Radisson hotel in Amman, and an alert U.S. customs agent scuttled an al Qaeda plot to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport when she apprehended terrorist Ahmed Ressam as he crossed into the United States from Canada.

Berger reviewed the documents on behalf of former president Bill Clinton and made recommendations to the Bush White House, which has final authority over which papers were given to the panel.

A Kerry campaign official, who declined to be identified in order to speak more freely about yesterday's internal discussions, said Berger had not informed the campaign about the investigation before news reports appeared Monday night. The official also said the campaign did not ask Berger to step down.

"The attitude here is he deserves the benefit of the doubt, especially given his record and experience," the official said.

In Democratic political circles yesterday, speculation was widespread on the personal damage to Berger -- who for two decades has been a voice of rising influence in the foreign policy establishment -- as well as on the possible explanations for how the incident could have happened. At best, Breuer acknowledged, the handling of the documents was extremely sloppy.

In the Clinton White House, Berger was known as a worrier -- forever alert to the kind of unexpected political controversy in which he is now embroiled. At the same time, he was known as someone who would constantly lose track of papers or appointments without subordinates to keep him organized and on schedule.

"For all those who know and love him, it's easy to see how this could happen," one former Clinton colleague said.

Staff writers John F. Harris, Dan Balz and Dan Eggen and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.