Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump aides say more are in mix for top envoy
There was other evidence that Trump is looking beyond the known four contenders. Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday listed the quartet, but added a fresh reference to former U.N. ambassador “John Bolton or others who may be added to the list” of candidates.
“I think the person who will make the decision about our next secretary of state is the presidentelect,” Pence said on ABC. “And he’ll factor the totality of Gen. Petraeus’ career in making that decision.”
Pence also referred to Petraeus as a “hero.” But it seemed unclear Sunday even to Petraeus and Trump’s inner circle whether the retired general’s guilty plea has turned off Trump.
Petraeus, a retired fourstar general, pleaded guilty last year to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to a woman he was having a sexual relationship with. He was spared prison time under a plea agreement with the Justice Department and was given two years’ probation.
FBI Director James Comey has drawn a distinction between Petraeus’ case and that of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state by saying there was no evidence that Clinton or her aides had intended to break the law through careless handling of sensitive information. Federal prosecutors said Petraeus knew black binders he shared contained classified information, but he nonetheless provided them.
“I made a mistake. I have again acknowledged it,” Petraeus said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Folks will have to factor that in and determine whether that is indeed disqualifying or not.”
Petraeus acknowledged that he loaned Paula Broadwell eight binders containing highly classified information regarding war strategy, intelligence capabilities and identities of covert officers.
Petraeus kept the binders in an unlocked desk drawer at his home, instead of a secure facility that’s required for handling classified material.
When initially questioned by the FBI, he denied having given Broadwell classified information. Petraeus avoided being charged with making a false statement under his plea deal. “At the time, I didn’t think it was false,” Petraeus said Sunday.