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

The New York Times ^ | 1/9/2015 | MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MATT APUZZO

[Beave Meister]

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against retired Gen. David H. Petraeus for providing classified information to his former mistress 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.

[UCANSEE2]

I read an interesting (and similar) theory on the incident, posted on another thread. To wit:

There is very little that could come of a prosecution in this matter. While Petraeus was wrong to have the affair, he paid the price for it and resigned in disgrace over it. Yes,he was stupid to have the affair, but he is way too smart to put anything SECRET or TOP SECRET into an unclassified system. Secondly, Mrs Broadwell, held at least a SECRET clearance in her own status as an Army Reserve Officer, and Petreaus had the authority he needed to share information with her within that classification. As long as she did not put specifically classified material into whatever she was writing for publication, there is no issue.

The purported prosecution is all about diverting attention from Bill Clinton’s involvement with the pedophile/ under-aged prostitute ring in order to protect Hillary. In addition, Petraeus probably has the goods on Beghazi from his CIA sources & after action reports. By prosecuting him, they can marginalize any charges he may level at Hillary. Plain and simple.

24 posted on 01/09/2015 4:57:39 PM PST by Bill Russell

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3245297/posts?page=35#35

[A Navy Vet]

Sorry about the grammar and punctuation. I’m still learning how to use this tablet. Can’t find the apostrophe.

Okay, just found it.

[Jet Jaguar]

Active Duty/Retiree ping.

[semaj]

'There should be one set of standards in the US military. If you break the UCMJ you should be punished, regardless of your rank."

Maybe in a dream world.

[UCANSEE2]

Screw that noise. There should be one set of standards in the US military. If you break the UCMJ you should be punished, regardless of your rank.

There is 'should be', and there is 'what is'.

And yes, 'what is' really sucks.

But the real question is why are they (in particular the FBI and DOJ) going after him NOW ?

As you say, it should be a MILITARY ISSUE.

[antidisestablishment]

Petraeus was the OCA in both positions, so he was responsible for all classification under his commands. However, clearance or no, the primary OPSEC directive is need to know. You can’t share material without an operational need, any more than someone with clearance can go trolling through records outside of their domain.

[Oztrich Boy]

They gatta go after Petraeus to divert attention from General John R. Allen (Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition against ISIL) and the Khawamdashian sisters.

[Bill Russell]

Ref “I read an interesting (and similar) theory on the incident, posted on another thread. To wit:”

Yes, I wrote & posted the same comment in two different discussions of the news stories on Petraeus.

V/R

Bill