The Spin Begins
 
Chris Matthews looked absolutely dour leading off his show tonight. TrouserGate is going to rule the news cycle for weeks. Bush is smart by going to the mattresses:
 
President Bush has ceded the national media spotlight to Sen. John Kerry for the rest of the month, resigning himself to nonstop press coverage of the political opposition that will climax in next week's Democratic National Convention.     "It's kind of their month," Bush campaign spokesman Nicolle Devenish said of the Democrats. "They are going to, for most of the month, dominate the news in a largely positive way."
 
Uh, maybe not. Is this a bit of schadenfreude? Put out the word that Bush is laying low and drop this Berger bombshell? If so it's brilliant politics.
 
BTW, Matthews changed the subject from Berger to Iran in about a split second. The media is in full cover-up mode. No fears though, the Blogosphere will keep this going for months.
 
Stephen Green is all over this and Josh Marshall is shaken:
 
The whole thing seems almost inexplicable. If I understand the article correctly, Berger took with him out of the secure reading room several highly classified documents relating to the 1999 millenium terrorist threats, as well as handwritten notes he took while reviewing those and other documents.

That was last night. It got worse today, Josh. True to his blogs moniker, Marshall today took up the Donk talking points:

Consider the timing.
According to this article in the Post, the National Archives began investigating this matter in October and then referred it to the FBI in January. That is, needless to say, at least six months ago. The article also notes that the FBI has yet to interview Berger, which suggests that the investigation has not reached a critical stage, for good or ill, that would have brought it to light now.
The most obvious, and probably the only, explanation of this leak is that it is intended to distract attention from the release of the 9/11 report due later this week. That would be yet another example of this administration's common practice of using the levers of executive power (law enforcement, declassification, etc.) for partisan purposes.
That doesn't mean Berger doesn't have any explaining to do. The two points are not exclusive of each other.

BTW, Matthews is going to the Fahrenheit 9-11 card. That is so pre-TrouserGate Chris.

Update: More Spin from UPI:

The ongoing FBI investigation of Clinton national security adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger for removing classified documents from the National Archives is highly unusual in several respects.
Berger seems to be saying the whole thing is just a product of his professorial absentmindedness. Other than that, there doesn't appear to be any criminal motive for what he did.
And interestingly enough, Berger is not the first Clinton national security adviser to get in hot water on the handling of sensitive matters.
Meanwhile, one former colleague said Tuesday that Berger only took copies of internal critiques on counter-terrorism from the National Archives last summer, apparently inadvertently, while preparing for testimony before the Sept. 11 Commission.
That statement appeared to soften some news accounts of Berger's actions. Initial reports said Berger took documents from the National Archives that were critical of the Clinton administration's efforts against terror and that those documents were now missing.

How the hell do you "inadvertantly" put something into your fucking pants?

Update #2: Wonkette spins.

Update #3: Atrios has nothing.

Update #4: Alterman? Nothing.
 
Update #5: David Corn? Nothing
 
Update#6: Tapped? Absent.
 
I guess they're all waiting for the memo to instruct them on what to say and how to say it.