[JURIST] Sandy Berger [Wikipedia profile], President Clinton's National Security Adviser from 1997 to 2001, hid classified documents from the National Archives [official website] under a construction trailer while preparing himself, Clinton administration witnesses and documents for testimony before the 9/11 Commission, according to a report [PDF] released Wednesday. Berger later unsuccessfully tried to retrieve documents he discarded from a garbage collector, though Berger's lawyer said that all of the contents of the documents were made available to the commission and still exist today. The report, prepared by National Archives Inspector General Paul Brachfeld [official website], says that Berger lied to Archives officials when confronted about the missing documents and that Berger removed the classified documents by hiding four documents in his pockets and taking a break to go outside without an escort.

Berger was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and surrender his security clearance for three years last year after pleading guilty to taking and destroying classified documents [JURIST reports] from the National Archives. He was also sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Berger said his actions were an "honest mistake" [JURIST report]. AP has more.