The FBI, meanwhile, is currently investigating Petraeus’ biographer for improperly trying to access his email, according to NBC News
DANIEL MACHT and EMILY FELDMAN
Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus has resigned, citing “extremely poor judgment” for having an extramarital affair.
Petraeus, 60, told President Barack Obama of the affair on Thursday and offered to resign, a senior official told NBC News. Obama accepted his resignation in a phone call Friday afternoon.
“Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position,” Petraeus said in a letter to CIA colleagues. “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”
“This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation,” Petraeus said in the letter.
Officials told The Associated Press that information about the affair surfaced over the course of an FBI probe. Meanwhile, law enforcement sources told NBC News that the FBI is currently investigating Petraeus’ biographer, who had extensive access to the general, for improperly trying to access his email and possibly gaining access to classified information. The sources emphasized that Petraeus was not under investigation and added that they did not believe the investigation into author Paula Broadwell would result in criminal charges.
“In his mind, in his views, with his code of ethics and morals, he did a very dishonorable thing,” a U.S. military official and long-time aide to Petraeus told NBC News. “This had nothing to do with Benghazi, nothing to do with his relationship with the White House,” the official added in reference to the recent questions and criticism leveled at the general for his agency’s response to the recent attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.
