Why yes, the Daily Beast did just publish “General David Petraeus’s Rules for Living” a few days ago. The author of the piece? Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell, whom NBC is reporting is being investigated by the FBI.
We’ve read the Daily Beast’s list of rules for living, and nothing seems improper there. Perhaps there’s quite a bit more to this “extramarital affair” which led to Petraeus’s resignation today.
Was Broadwell in a position to have access to Petraeus’s email?
Here’s a good question, although recent events show it’s not very clear just how closely the White House is paying attention to what’s going on with the CIA.
ABC’s Jake Tapper is reporting that President Obama was told about the impending resignation yesterday.
They are questions that the press might ask, if they were ever given access to the president. NBC’s Chuck Todd whined earlier today that the press who attended the president’s statement on the economy today were kept well out of shouting distance.
Indeed, if the affair was uncovered in the process of a wider-ranging FBI investigation, there are so many more questions to be answered. Was there possible blackmail involved, or a security breach?
Update:
Newsmax is reporting that the FBI investigation uncovered thousands of emails between Petraeus and Broadwell which created a security threat.
However, an FBI source says the investigation began when American intelligence mistook an email Petraeus had sent to his girlfriend as a reference to corruption. Petraeus was commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan from July 4, 2010 until July 18, 2011.
The investigation began last spring, but the FBI then pored over his emails when he was stationed in Afghanistan.
The woman who was having an affair with Petraeus is a journalist who had been writing about him.
Given his top secret clearance and the fact that Petraeus is married, the FBI continued to investigate and intercept Petraeus’ email exchanges with the woman. The emails include sexually explicit references to such items as sex under a desk.
Such a relationship is a breach of top secret security requirements and could have compromised Petraeus.
At some point after Petraeus was sworn in as CIA director on Sept. 6, 2011, the woman broke up with him. However, Petraeus continued to pursue her, sending her thousands of emails over the last several months, raising even more questions about his judgment.
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