Ex-CIA chief admits divulging army secrets to mistress
RALEIGH: Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose political future was nearly destroyed over his affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he shared classified material with her for her book.
The plea agreement— which carries a possible sentence of up to a year in prison— represents another blow to the reputation of the retired four-star Army general who led American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and was perhaps the most admired military leader of his generation.
Gen Petraeus, 62, agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of unauthorised removal and retention of classified material. The agreement was filed in federal court on Tuesday in Charlotte, where Paula Broadwell, the general’s biographer and former mistress, lives with her husband and children. In court papers, prosecutors recommended two years of probation and no prison time. But the judge who hears the plea is not bound by the recommendations. No immediate date was set for a court hearing for Gen Petraeus to enter the plea.
Prosecutors said that while Ms Broadwell was writing her book in 2011, Gen Petraeus gave her eight binders of classified material he had improperly kept from his time as the top military commander in Afghanistan. Days later, he took the binders back to his house.
Among the secret information contained in the ‘black books’ were the names of covert operatives, the coalition war strategy and notes about Mr Petraeus’ discussions with US President Barack Obama and the National Security Council, prosecutors said.
The binders were later seized by the FBI while conducting a search in Gen Petraeus’ Arlington, Virginia, home, where he had kept them in the unlocked drawer of a desk in his ground-floor study.
Prosecutors said that after resigning from the CIA, Gen Petraeus signed a form falsely attesting he had no classified material. He also lied to FBI agents when he denied supplying the information to Ms Broadwell, note court documents.
Gen Petraeus’ lawyers, David Kendall and Robert Barnett in Washington, declined to comment.
A telephone message left for Broadwell was not immediately returned. Her lawyer, Robert Muse of Washington, said he had no comment.
Gen Petraeus admitted to having an affair with Ms Broadwell when he resigned as CIA director in November 2012. Both have publicly apologised and explained that their romantic relationship began only after he had retired from the military.