CIA Director General Petraeus Resigns

[Magda Hassan]

This will be fun. Wonder how many nervous politician and military and gov official there are watching this. Some leaks are more useful than others.

F.B.I. and Justice Dept. Said to Seek Charges for Petraeus

Retired Gen. David H. Petraeus with the author Paula Broadwell in Afghanistan in July 2011.
International Security Assistance Force



By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MATT APUZZO


January 9, 2015


WASHINGTON The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against David H. Petraeus, contending that he provided classified information to a lover while he was director of the C.I.A., officials said, leaving Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the pre-eminent military officer of his generation to prison.
The Justice Department investigation stems from an affair Mr. Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer who was writing his biography, and focuses on whether he gave her access to his C.I.A. email account and other highly classified information.
F.B.I. agents discovered classified documents on her computer after Mr. Petraeus resigned from the C.I.A. in 2012 when the affair became public.
Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who served as commander of American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, has said he never provided classified information to Ms. Broadwell, and has indicated to the Justice Department that he has no interest in a plea deal that would spare him an embarrassing trial. A lawyer for Mr. Petraeus, Robert B. Barnett, said Friday he had no comment.
The officials who said that charges had been recommended were briefed on the investigation but asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.
Mr. Holder was expected to decide by the end of last year whether to bring charges against Mr. Petraeus, but he has not indicated how he plans to proceed. The delay has frustrated some Justice Department and F.B.I. officials and investigators who have questioned whether Mr. Petraeus has received special treatment at a time Mr. Holder has led a crackdown on government officials who reveal secrets to journalists.
The protracted process has also frustrated Mr. Petraeus's friends and political allies, who say it is unfair to keep the matter hanging over his head. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, wrote to Mr. Holder last month that the investigation had deprived the nation of wisdom from one of its most experienced leaders.
"At this critical moment in our nation's security," he wrote, "Congress and the American people cannot afford to have his voice silenced or curtailed by the shadow of a long-running, unresolved investigation marked by leaks from anonymous sources."
Since his resignation from the C.I.A. on Nov. 10, 2012, Mr. Petraeus has divided his time between teaching, making lucrative speeches and working as a partner in one of the world's largest private-equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Mr. Holder has said little publicly about the investigation. The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, asked by reporters in December why it was taking so long, said: "I can't say. I mean, I guess I could say, but I won't say."
Marc Raimondi, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment on the investigation.
At a news conference shortly after Mr. Petraeus resigned, President Obama said he had no evidence that Mr. Petraeus had disclosed classified information "that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security."
"We are safer because of the work that Dave Petraeus has done," Mr. Obama said, referring to his career in government. "And my main hope right now is is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career."
But investigators concluded that, whether or not the disclosure harmed national security, it amounted to a significant security breach in the office of one of the nation's most trusted intelligence leaders. They recommended that Mr. Petraeus face charges, saying lower-ranking officials had been prosecuted for far less.
Federal agents stumbled onto the affair after Jill Kelley, a friend of Mr. Petraeus's, complained to the F.B.I. that she had received anonymous threatening emails about her relationship with Mr. Petraeus. F.B.I. agents opened a cyberstalking investigation, traced the message to Ms. Broadwell and began searching her emails. That is when they discovered evidence that she and Mr. Petraeus were having an affair.
Mr. Petraeus is said to have begun the affair with Ms. Broadwell in 2011, soon after taking the job at the C.I.A. and while she was interviewing him for her book, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus."
Mr. Petraeus resigned from the C.I.A. three days after Mr. Obama was re-elected. In a brief statement, Mr. Petraeus admitted to the affair, saying that "after being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment."
"Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours," Mr. Petraeus said, referring to the C.I.A. "This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."
Mr. Petraeus, 62, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, took command of American forces in Iraq in 2007, one of the lowest points in the war. Al Qaeda controlled large parts of the country, and dozens of American soldiers were dying each month.
Mr. Petraeus directed the so-called surge of American forces that helped stabilize Iraq enough so that the United States could withdraw its troops under Mr. Obama. In 2010, Mr. Obama chose him to lead American forces in Afghanistan, where the Taliban was gaining territory. Mr. Petraeus had some success although not nearly as much as he had in Iraq.
Along with his acumen on the battlefield, Mr. Petraeus was considered a natural political operator in Washington, where he easily navigated the politics of Congress, the White House and the Pentagon.
He fielded calls to run for president and cultivated a larger-than-life media image. All the while, he remained a trusted adviser to Mr. Obama, who appointed him to lead the C.I.A. in 2011.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/us/...rrer=&_r=0

[Magda Hassan]

Petraeus Could Face Felony Charges Over Leaked Documents

Prosecutors have recommended charges for the former military leader for leaking documents to his former mistress, Paula Broadwell.
Originally posted on Jan. 10, 2015, at 11:31 a.m. Updated on Jan. 10, 2015, at 1:12 p.m. Jim Dalrymple II BuzzFeed News Reporter


Kyle Blaine BuzzFeed News Reporter


John Stanton BuzzFeed News Reporter






David Petraeus speaks onstage during a fireside chat at the Team Rubicon Salute to Service Awards at Skirball Cultural Center on Nov. 7, 2014, in Los Angeles. Imeh Akpanudosen / Getty Images

Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus may face felony charges for giving his former mistress access to classified documents.

Prosecutors with the FBI and the Department of Justice recommended the charges against Petraeus, a retired four-star general who led U.S. forces in the Afghan and Iraq wars. The recommendation comes as a result of an investigation into whether he gave Paula Broadwell access to his email and other classified documents, the New York Times reported.
Broadwell is Petraeus' former mistress, as well as a former Army Reserve officer who wrote his biography. Petraeus has previously stated he never passed classified documents to Broadwell.
When asked to confirm the report Friday, a Justice Department official told BuzzFeed News, "We have no comment." Attorney General Eric Holder will now have to decide if he will pursue an indictment. If convicted, Petraeus could end up in prison.
The recommendation to charge Petraeus comes after a years-long investigation. Following a high-profile military career, Petraeus was appointed to head up the CIA in 2011 but resigned in 2012 when news broke of his affair with Broadwell. The affair was exposed during an investigation into a security breach of Petraeus' email.
Jesseyln Radack, the director of national security and human rights at the Government Accountability Project, told BuzzFeed News she thinks it's "more than fair" that Petraeus face charges.
"This is a justified leak case, especially in light of Petraeus' hypocrisy in condemning former CIA official John Kiriakou for leaking' the name of a torturer," she said. "I'm not sure why Petraeus leaking classified information to his mistress is any worse than Leon Panetta leaking classified information for the production of a Hollywood movie both should be prosecuted."
Radack, a former whistleblower who has publicly defended other famous leakers including Edward Snowden and Thomas Drake, described a double standard in place when trying leak cases.
"While I'm uncomfortable with the use of the Espionage Act to punish unauthorized disclosures, the fact of the matter is that the only national security and Intel officials prosecuted for leaking classified information have been whistleblowers trying to expose fraud, waste, abuse and illegality."
Trevor Trimm, Executive Director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said prosecuting leaks is never necessary, arguing that administrative repercussions worked as an adequate policing mechanism for decades.

"I don't think prosecuting leaks is ever really necessary, unless the person is leaking' to a foreign government for personal gain. There are plenty of motivations for government officials to never leak to the media, including the loss of pay, loss of their job, the loss of their security clearance and their career. This is primarily how the government policed leaks for decades," Trimm said Friday evening.

But Trimm argued that if the government is committed to pursuing leak cases, "they should do so fairly and across the board no matter one's rank in the military or place in the government."

"We know, for example, the last two CIA directors besides Petraeus, Leon Panetta and John Brennan, have leaked classified information to the media, but they faced no punishment. Yet lower-level CIA officers like John Kiriakou and Jeffery Sterling have been charged with felonies and faced jail time for extremely similar alleged acts, in cases many consider whistleblowing," he added.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/p...ovAo38zD86

[David Guyatt]

He must've really pissed someone off, eh.

[Magda Hassan]

Nauseating that he is getting done on leaking info to his mistress and not for running a Salvador Option death squad in Iraq. Still, will be fun to watch him wax lyrically in court on how his use of classified information did not harm national security. Might give some legal slack to Manning and Kiriakou and Assange and others.