Posted on 11/11/2012 11:22:45 AM PST by tobyhill
House majority leader Eric Cantor talked to an FBI official in late October about former CIA Director David Petraeus' involvement in an affair, a spokesman for the congressman told CNN Sunday.
Doug Heye said Cantor had a conversation with the whistleblower about the affair and the national security concerns involved in the matter.
The New York Times reported Saturday that on October 31, Cantor's chief of staff phoned the FBI to inform the agency about the call between the congressman and the FBI official. The Times reported Cantor learned of the whistleblower through Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Washington.
A spokeswoman for Reichert told CNN Sunday that the Times article was accurate but that the congressman had no further comment on his involvement in the case.
Petraeus' affair came to light when an FBI investigation looked into a complaint that his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was sending harassing e-mails to another woman close to the retired four-star general, a U.S. official told CNN Saturday.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Issa should have been notified. Armed with this explosive information, he would have found a way to pressure releases of info on Benghazi by bargaining with administration officials through backchannels. And Boehner knew.
Perhaps Cantor thought it could have been a trap by the Chicago mob. They certainly would have no problem feeding false info to the GOP, and having it backfire big time. “How dare the GOP politicize national security, with pre-election smears against a war hero?”
Regardless, time for a real Speaker and Majority Leader. Ryan, Issa, Gohmert, anyone but these two mollusks.
A man of honor doesn't cheat on his wife.
That’s true. I should rephrase that, he served his country proudly.
Doubletalk. Doubletalk.
(Duplicate post from slow connection.)
Didn’t know enough of the details. It could have been a honey trap. The FBI and others needed to find out if there was a security breach. It could also have been false.
As for the resignation there is another reason he had to resign is the affair started and went on when he was a commissioned officer not just head of CIA. That is a courtmartial offense (adultery) and in his career he would have overseen judicial and nip activities involving this.
Bingo! We have a winner.
Now if we could just get every government official who's had an affair to resign, and not replace them -- then just think of the benefits to the national debt, deficits, government credibility, irresponsible spending, you name it.
Now imagine if all that surplus sexual energy were sublimated, not to increasing the size and power of government, but rather to improving economic conditions by starting and running new businesses, etc...
In other words: General David Petraeus, being a true national hero, is honorably leading us by example.
So how many slimy politicians and bureaucrats are honorable enough to follow him?
;-)
Unwise why - because it may have cost us the election? OOPS! That already happened!!! Boehner and the rest of the House Leadership can kiss my lilly white arse. They're now no better than the Democrats. Time for a truly CONSERVATIVE party.
How can the CIA director sleeping around be classified information? If that is true, it’s crazy. That’s nothing but good political fodder, not information useful to our enemies since we already know it. Cantor should’ve leaked it for sure. On top of Benghazi, it would have swung the election.
True or not, people testifying do not know what WB documents, tapes, e-mails, congress holds in their hands
So how many slimy politicians and bureaucrats are honorable enough to follow him?
Personally i really don,t care what some general does as long as he is not a socialist or a queer.
No, he should have warned Issa and asked him to immediately recall Petraeus and others, under oath. Even if the hearings had been behind closed doors, the mere hint to Fox News and others that Issa’s committee had explosive information on Benghazi would have made Obambi look like Nixon. That probably would have forced Hillary and others to throw him under the bus.
Peter King would be a better choice for Speaker.
why is the headline supplemented with “(I give up)”? what is it you would have expected Eric Cantor to do and why?
Boehner is Speaker of the House.
Actually Petraeus was doomed when he agreed to Head the CIA under Obama. The way he was treated by the Dems, Pelosi you know the “Betraeus” article in NYT....How could this man work for Obama?
There was already an outstanding FBI investigation. He didn't give anything to the FBI they didn't already know. The investigation was wrapping up by that time. So Cantor did the right thing. The WH will say they didn't make it public until after the FBI investigation was over.
The only thing left of interest to me is whether evidence of blackmail by the WH still exists. I doubt it. If there is no blackmail evidence then this story eventually dies away
Broadly, a whistle blower reports apparent or suspected wrong doing in an approved manner to an agency of government, usually for disinterested reasons, while a leaker provides information to the news media or someone else unapproved for the information in order to gain an advantage or promote a cause of one sort or another.
Since Cantor is a House leader, he is part of the Congressional oversight process and his informant was therefore a whistle blower, with Cantor then doing the correct thing and asking the FBI why Congress had not been informed of the Petraeus matter.
In practice though, going to the news media is often less risky than trusting government, and many frustrated whistle blowers end up sourcing stories for the new media.
The distinction is one of motives and to whom the information is directed.
Broadly, a whistle blower reports apparent or suspected wrong doing in an approved manner to an agency of government, usually for disinterested reasons, while a leaker provides information to the news media or someone else unapproved for the information in order to gain an advantage or promote a cause of one sort or another.
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Thank you for your reasoned response. What you say makes sense. Guess I’m just too quick to draw conclusions about leakers/whistle blowers. But going to the right person w/ information makes sense. I’m not sure in this case why Cantor needed to know about an affair...but then I’m not sure we know everything there is to know about this incident...yet.
As to intelligence agencies especially, this is thought essential in order to remedy and prevent cover ups of abuses and lapses in mission. As for going to Cantor, the federal source probably knew that standard practice had been violated, not just as to the affair, but in the handling of it by the FBI and the Obama administration, including that Congressional leaders were not promptly informed.
My surmise is that the source to Cantor is a mid-ranking federal employee in the FBI or CIA who was alarmed at what was going on. Now though leaks are pouring out to the news media as the security agencies and senior officials scramble to protect themselves.
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