F.B.I. and Justice Dept. Said to Seek Charges for Petraeus
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MATT APUZZOJAN. 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, 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 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 cultivating 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.

 djones520 wrote:
I don't buy it... yeah, there was the lapse in judgement on the affair issue, but classified data?

That is a huge horse of a different color. A 4 star, especially a 4 star of his position, does not mess around with that. Just simply doesn't. ESPECIALLY after the Bradley Manning thing. Hell, the Army won't even let people around scanners anymore because of that.

It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm getting a strong wiff of a witch hunt here...

I guess we'll see.

 djones520 wrote:
I don't buy it... yeah, there was the lapse in judgement on the affair issue, but classified data?

That is a huge horse of a different color. A 4 star, especially a 4 star of his position, does not mess around with that. Just simply doesn't. ESPECIALLY after the Bradley Manning thing. Hell, the Army won't even let people around scanners anymore because of that.

It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm getting a strong wiff of a witch hunt here...

I guess we'll see.

 AlexHolker wrote:
If only Obama & Co cared half as much about rapists and torturers as they do about keeping secrets from the American people.

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:

 AlexHolker wrote:
If only Obama & Co cared half as much about rapists and torturers as they do about keeping secrets from the American people.

If the general was an actual whistleblower I'd agree with this.

Wasn't one of Big O's campaign things running a transparent government?

 Jihadin wrote:
Wonder what the intell was

 Ouze wrote:
Rule one of Operation Hotdogs is we don't talk about Operation Hotdogs.

 AlexHolker wrote:
If only Obama & Co cared half as much about rapists and torturers as they do about keeping secrets from the American people.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
I trust that all alleged leaks will be investigated and prosecuted with the same zeal.

 Jihadin wrote:
To access his email account she needed his CAC card itself to log onto his account. I've a feeling he forwarded some email to her then.

 Ketara wrote:
If a pretty woman asks a general for access to his CIA email account, then he should have better common sense than to give it to her. That's a massive breach of security. We all want to impress women sometimes, but that strikes me as an absolutely idiotic breach of security for someone at his level. If that woman was working for the Chinese or Russians, he'd have basically given them free access into the CIA network.

You can be an absolutely wonderful general if most ways, but if you screw up majorly in another way, the first does not necessarily mitigate the latter.What's more he's now retired, he no longer plays any active role in the defence of the nation, and therefore there is no current operational reason to mitigate any investigation or sentencing.

 Orlanth wrote:
Actually the mistress receiving secrets from a high ranking official via the bedroom is a classic move of a professional intelligence organisation. With many many examples.

I would be 0% surprised if the mistress was actively working for the KGB, Chinese Intelligence or Mossad at first guess. Or perhaps for one of the European nations.

 Jihadin wrote:
To access his email account she needed his CAC card itself to log onto his account. I've a feeling he forwarded some email to her then.

Jerram wrote:
So everyone is keeping in mind that she was a reserve Army LTC with a clearance right ?......

 AlexHolker wrote:

The Cold War's over, Orlanth. Broadwell already has a motive for her part in what Petraeus did without inventing commie plots.

Jerram wrote:
So everyone is keeping in mind that she was a reserve Army LTC with a clearance right ?......

 Jihadin wrote:

Jerram wrote:
So everyone is keeping in mind that she was a reserve Army LTC with a clearance right ?......

Was she clear though to view CIA intel though.