Woah! I was just about to hit the sack when
this caused my bleary eyes to widen...
The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against David H. Petraeus, contending that he provided classified information to a lover 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.
This next part is important...
Mr. Holder was expected to decide by the end of last year whether to bring charges against Mr. Petraeus, but he has not indicated how he plans to proceed. The delay has frustrated some Justice Department and F.B.I. officials and investigators who have questioned whether Mr. Petraeus has received special treatment at a time Mr. Holder has led a crackdown on government officials who reveal secrets to journalists.
Damn straight. Chelsea Manning got the book tossed at her, so why should Petraeus walk away without a problem?
There may be an ulterior motive here. As noted in
a previous post, the Republicans have been making serious noises about backing a Petraeus presidential bid. How serious? So serious that
Roger Ailes considered quitting Fox News to devote himself to the effort.
Similar rumors are still floating around. Last year, there were suggestions that he might run as a Democrat -- for Vice President, with
Hillary topping the ticket! (That story may have been an invention designed to lessen Hillary's popularity with the left.)
So, what kind of material did Broadwell see? I wonder if it concerned Benghazi.
As everyone knows, the right-wingers went into rage-gasm over the comments made by Susan Rice after the Benghazi attack. That whole "controversy" reeked of pre-planning and coordination, of course. Rice got her information entirely from the CIA, the agency that Petraeus headed at the time. Yet the Fox Newsers never criticized Petraeus; instead, they went after Rice, simply because she believed the information that Petraeus gave her.
I am sure that Team Obama understands this sequence of events very well. Holder's action -- should he take any -- may be construed as revenge for that particular piece of ratfuckery.