Berger should be fully prosecuted, other 'small people' have had their lived ruined for far less...

Remember 'Wen Ho Lee'?
http://dir.salon.com/news/feature/2000/09/13/lee/index.html

September 13, 2000 | Today in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after a few final fits and starts, federal prosecutors closed the book on a case once widely touted as the biggest spy scandal since the Rosenbergs, and concluded what can only be considered one of the more embarrassing and shameful chapters in the history of federal law enforcement.

Days ago U.S. Attorney Norman C. Bay successfully sought to prevent accused nuclear weapons scientist Wen Ho Lee from being released on bail, telling a circuit court judge that Lee's release would represent "an unprecedented risk of danger to national security."

Today Lee walked out of prison with no restrictions whatsoever, after being held in solitary confinement since last December. And the same federal prosecutors stood before the media and pronounced themselves happy with the result. Case closed. Job well done.

U.S. District Judge James Parker, however, was hardly so generous in his appraisal of the their work. "I sincerely apologize to you," Parker told Dr. Lee in remarks from the bench, "for the unfair manner in which you were held in custody by the executive branch." And the judge went on to level against the government a verdict which could scarcely have been more scathing. The Departments of Energy and Justice, Parker said, "have embarrassed our entire nation and each of us who is a citizen of it."

And what about James Yee?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/19/yee.charges.dropped/

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- All charges against Army Muslim chaplain James Yee -- who was initially accused of espionage at the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- have been dropped, the U.S. Army said Friday.

Yee had faced charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But after extensive review, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, decided to stop pursuing the matter.

"Citing national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence, Miller decided to drop these charges," the Army said in a statement. "Miller made his decision after consultation with government lawyers and intelligence officials."

Yee had proposed to resign from the Army if the military would end its effort to prosecute him. Under that proposal, Yee said he would agree to take a polygraph and undergo a national security debriefing for up to 30 days. He also sought immunity from future charges. (Full story)

The government rejected the offer.

"Although Miller considered Yee's offer to undergo a debriefing in exchange for the government dropping the charges, granting him immunity and supporting his resignation, relevant law enforcement agencies could not support Yee's request for immunity," the Army statement said.

Yee, a West Point graduate and Army captain, had been serving as a chaplain for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay when he was arrested in September and originally accused of espionage. He was jailed for 76 days.

The formal charges were reduced to mishandling classified information, and Army prosecutors never introduced any evidence on what that was. They delayed Yee's preliminary hearing five times.

The only testimony about what Yee may have done wrong came from a U.S. Customs agent, who said Yee was carrying lists with names of detainees and interrogators when he arrived in Florida on leave in September. The agent searched Yee's belongings on a tip from military investigators.

The Army had added four minor charges, mainly involving adultery and pornography, at the time it filed the reduced accusations of mishandling classified information.

In Friday's announcement, Miller said Yee would be offered nonjudicial punishment for the allegations of adultery and pornography.

Such punishment would be given out in an Article 15 proceeding, the military's way of dealing with minor violations. The penalties would be minor and might consist of duty restriction or a temporary pay cut.

Yee would then be allowed to return to his home station in Fort Lewis, Washington.

Yeah, I am sure they had all sorts of great proof against him....