Debbie Schlussel: Will Denning McTague Get the Sandy Burglar Treatment?
Denning McTague, an intern with the National Archives, stole about 165 Civil War documents, including the War Department's announcement of President Lincoln's death and sold most of them on eBay.
He was rightfully charged with the thefts and is being prosecuted.
Juxtapose his situation with that of Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger--or as Rush Limbaugh likes to call him, "Sandy Burglar." As we all know, Berger stole countless documents from the National Archives.
What we don't know is how many documents he stole and whether or not they've all been recovered. And we'll never know, because Berger has never taken a lie detector test, nor has he given the full details of what he stole and what he returned. We'll never know what he stuffed down his pants and whether it was destroyed or its whereabouts. We do know that Berger did, in fact, shred some of the documents with scissors. He admitted to intentionally destroying at least one document.
And we know Berger's motive, which unlike McTague, was not mere theft to get a few bucks on eBay. It was to "massage" a positive image of his role in the days before 9/11, when he--not the Bushies--was in charge of dealing with the Al-Qaeda threat, but didn't do the job.
On the other hand, Denning McTague has helped officials recover most of the missing items. He plans to plead guilty.
Sandy Berger pleaded guilty. But he got a sweet deal. He got to plead to a misdemeanor instead of felonies, paid a fine of $10,000, and was merely suspend his national-security clearance for three years, with the possibility of a renewed clearance right after that.
So, will Denning McTague get a sweet deal like Sandy Berger? Will Denning McTague get the Sandy Burglar treatment?
Not likely. Because life is different for you when you are an FoB (Friend of Bill [Clinton]).
Unlike FoB Sandy Berger, Denning McTague faces a year in federal prison.
Posted by Debbie on March 19, 2007 10:21 AM to Debbie Schlussel