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Former CIA Director David Petraeus has apologized to those he “hurt and let down”, in his first public speech since resigning over his extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell.
David Petraeus said at the University of Southern California military event his actions had caused “pain for family and friends”.
But the retired general said he hoped his fall would teach others that “life doesn’t stop with such a mistake and must go on”.
David Petraeus quit after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered during an FBI investigation.
He was speaking to about 600 guests at the University of Southern California’s annual Reserve Officers’ Training Corps dinner.
David Petraeus has apologized to those he “hurt and let down”, in his first public speech since resigning over his extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell
David Petraeus received a standing ovation, then began his speech by saying: “Needless to say, I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago.”
The former CIA chief said he was also “keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing”.
David Petraeus added: “So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret – and apologize for – the circumstances that led me to resign from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters.”
David Petraeus has kept a low profile since resigning on November 9, 2012.
His lawyer said David Petraeus had spent much of the time with his family.
A harassment complaint by Florida socialite Jill Kelley over emails she had received had led the FBI to unmask the affair.
Jill Kelley knew David Petraeus through social contacts on the Florida military base where US Central Command is headquartered.
When the FBI investigated, it traced the emails to an apparently jealous Paula Broadwell.
Jill Kelley also knew the top US general in Afghanistan, General John Allen. John Allen also sent emails to Jill Kelley but has been cleared of any misconduct.
Towards the end of his speech, David Petraeus said he hoped his experience “can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as far as I did. One learns, after all, that life doesn’t stop with such a mistake. It can and must go on”.
David Petraeus added: “I know that I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and on a number of others.
“I can, however, try to move forward in a manner that is consistent to the values to which I subscribed before slipping my moorings and, as best as possible, to make amends to those I have hurt and let down.”
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Former CIA director David Petraeus is making his first public speech since resigning in November over his extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell.
David Petraeus is scheduled to speak on Tuesday night at a University of Southern California event honoring the military as he carves out a role for himself as a voice on energy, economic and veterans issues.
A prepared text of his speech, obtained by The New York Times, indicates David Petraeus will apologize for the affair with Paula Broadwell.
David Petraeus is expected to acknowledge that he’s “regarded in a different light now” than he was a year ago and that he’ll try to make amends and move forward as best he can.
“I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing,” David Petraeus will say, according to The New York Times.
“So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret – and apologize for – the circumstances that led me to resign from the C.I.A. and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters.”
David Petraeus will apologize for the affair with Paula Broadwell in his first public speech since resignation at a University of Southern California event
David Petraeus, 60, a famed Iraq and Afghan war, is a general retired from the military in 2011 who went on to lead the CIA.
President Barack Obama accepted his resignation from the CIA on November 9, saying David Petraeus had “made our country safer and stronger”, after he admitted having an affair with Paula Broadwell, the author of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.
David Petraeus will talk about the importance of supporting the families of military personnel and will close his speech by once again referring to his mistakes.
“I know that I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and on a number of others,” the decorated general will say.
“I can, however, try to move forward in a manner that is consistent with the values to which I subscribed before slipping my moorings and, as best as possible, to make amends to those I have hurt and let down.”
David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell affair was discovered during an FBI investigation into emails Broadwell sent to another woman she saw as a rival for Petraeus’ attention – emails the other woman viewed as threatening.
He told his staffers at the time that he was guilty of “extremely poor judgment” in the affair.
“Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours,” David Petraeus told CIA employees in a statement.
After the affair, David Petraeus testified behind closed doors about the Benghazi attack but kept out of the public eye after the very powerful media storm which blew up in the wake of the scandal.
In recent months, however, David Petraeus has increasingly appeared in public for lunches and dinners with former colleagues, foreign officials, members of Congress and policy experts.
Vernon Loeb, the journalist who co-wrote Paula Broadwell’s biography of General David Petraeus, has confessed to being the “most clueless man in America” for never realizing the two were having an affair.
Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post reporter who covered the Pentagon, was the ghost-writer on Paula Broadwell’s effusive All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.
Colleagues raised an eyebrow at the exclusive access David Petraeus gave to Paula Broadwell, he dismissed any questions, he said.
In a column for the Post, Vernon Loeb said he found Paula Broadwell ambitious, driven and intelligent.
He said he questioned David Petraeus letting her into his inner circle, but explained away his own concerns with realization the two are alike in important ways.
Both David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell are fiercely competitive runners and both a Ivy League-educated West Point Military Academy graduates.
But, Vernon Loeb admits, his judgement was flawed.
“My wife says I’m the most clueless person in America,” he wrote.
“I never anticipated the extramarital affair between David H. Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, the woman I’d worked with for 16 months on a book about Petraeus’s year commanding the war in Afghanistan.”
Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post reporter who covered the Pentagon, was the ghost-writer on Paula Broadwell’s effusive All In The Education of General David Petraeus
Vernon Loeb said signs were there, but he always dismissed them.
“Female colleagues of mine weren’t shy in remarking about Broadwell’s good looks and her affinity for flashy, cocktail party attire even at staid national security conferences,” he wrote.
But, Vernon Loeb said, Paula Broadwell spoke warmly about her husband, a surgical radiologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she “clearly adores” her two young sons.
The Washington Post journalist says he wrote the book from the basement of his home in Maryland based on the notes and emails collected by Paula Broadwell on her reporting trips.
Paula Broadwell edited most of the manuscript to add her own take on David Petraeus’ command in Afghanistan – including much of the highest praise she communicated throughout the book.
Members of US Congress said Sunday they want to know more details about the FBI investigation that revealed an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren’t told sooner.
“We received no advanced notice. It was like a lightning bolt,” said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The FBI was investigating harassing emails sent by David Petraeus biographer and girlfriend Paula Broadwell to a second woman. That probe of Paula Broadwell’s emails revealed the affair between her and David Petraeus. The FBI contacted David Petraeus and other intelligence officials, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asked Petraeus to resign.
A senior U.S. military official identified the second woman as Jill Kelley, 37, who lives in Tampa, Florida, and serves as a social liaison to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. The U.S. official said the coalition countries represented at the military’s Central Command in Tampa gave Jill Kelley an appreciation certificate on which she was referred to as an “honorary ambassador” to the coalition, but she has no official status.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case publicly, said Jill Kelley is known to drop the “honorary” part and refer to herself as an ambassador.
The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation, said Jill Kelley had received harassing emails from Paula Broadwell, which led the FBI to examine her email account and eventually discover her relationship with David Petraeus.
A former associate of David Petraeus confirmed the target of the emails was Jill Kelley, but said there was no affair between the two, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the retired general’s private life. The associate, who has been in touch with David Petraeus since his resignation, says Jill Kelley and her husband were longtime friends of Petraeus and wife, Holly.
David Petraeus resigned while lawmakers still had questions about the September 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate and CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Lawmakers said it’s possible that David Petraeus will still be asked to appear on Capitol Hill to testify about what he knew about the U.S. response to that incident.
David Petraeus resigned while lawmakers still had questions about the September 11 attack on the US Consulate and CIA base in Benghazi
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the circumstances of the FBI probe smacked of a cover-up by the White House.
“It seems this [the investigation] has been going on for several months and, yet, now it appears that they’re saying that the FBI didn’t realize until Election Day that General Petraeus was involved. It just doesn’t add up,” said Peter King, R-N.Y.
David Petraeus, 60, quit Friday after acknowledging an extramarital relationship. He has been married 38 years to Holly Petraeus, with whom he has two adult children, including a son who led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan as an Army lieutenant.
Paula Broadwell, a 40-year-old graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and an Army Reserve officer, is married with two young sons.
David Petraeus’ affair with Paula Broadwell will be the subject of meetings Wednesday involving congressional intelligence committee leaders, FBI deputy director Sean Joyce and CIA deputy director Michael Morell.
David Petraeus had been scheduled to appear before the committees on Thursday to testify on what the CIA knew and what the agency told the White House before, during and after the attack in Benghazi. Republicans and some Democrats have questioned the U.S. response and protection of diplomats stationed overseas.
Michael Morell was expected to testify in place of David Petraeus, and lawmakers said he should have the answers to their questions. But Dianne Feinstein and others didn’t rule out the possibility that Congress will compel David Petraeus to testify about Benghazi at a later date, even though he’s relinquished his job.
“I don’t see how in the world you can find out what happened in Benghazi before, during and after the attack if General Petraeus doesn’t testify,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants to create a joint congressional committee to investigate the U.S. response to that attack.
Dianne Feinstein said she first learned of David Petraeus’ affair from the media late last week, and confirmed it in a phone call Friday with Petraeus. She eventually was briefed by the FBI and said so far there was no indication that national security was breached.
Still, Dianne Feinstein called the news “a heartbreak” for her personally and U.S. intelligence operations, and said she didn’t understand why the FBI didn’t give her a heads up as soon as David Petraeus’ name emerged in the investigation.
“We are very much able to keep things in a classified setting,” she said.
“At least if you know, you can begin to think and then to plan. And, of course, we have not had that opportunity.”
Jason Clapper was told by the Justice Department of the Petraeus investigation at about 5 p.m. on Election Day, and then called David Petraeus and urged him to resign, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
FBI officials say the committees weren’t informed until Friday, one official said, because the matter started as a criminal investigation into harassing emails sent by Paula Broadwell to another woman.
Concerned that the emails he exchanged with Paula Broadwell raised the possibility of a security breach, the FBI brought the matter up with David Petraeus directly, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
David Petraeus decided to quit, though he was breaking no laws by having an affair, officials said.
Dianne Feinstein said she has not been told the precise relationship between David Petraeus and the woman who reported the harassing emails to the FBI.
Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, called David Petraeus “a great leader” who did right by stepping down and still deserves the nation’s gratitude. He also didn’t rule out calling David Petraeus to testify on Benghazi at some point.
“He’s trying to put his life back together right now and that’s what he needs to focus on,” Saxby Chambliss said.
Former CIA Director David Petraeus has offered an apology over his affair in an email to a friend, saying Friday night that he was “deeply sorry” for the pain he’s cause the nation and his own family, it was revealed today.
David Petraeus’ long-time friend told the Washington Post that the retired general was extremely sorry over his extramarital affair, allegedly with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
His apology comes as reports show that David Petraeus’ career could have imploded Paula Broadwell allegedly sent threatening e-mails to another woman she suspected of being too close to him.
In fact, the as-yet unidentified woman could be the key to the entire scandal unfolding after it was claimed she contacted the FBI for protection after receiving frightening emails. Agents traced the threats to Paula Broadwell.
However, it is claimed that Paula Broadwell was using David Petraeus’ own Gmail account to send the emails and when the FBI began to investigate an obvious national security issue instead uncovered explicit messages between the two sent from the decorated war hero’s own account – indicating an affair.
Three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told the Washington Post that when David Petraeus’s name was raised in connection with the threatening emails the FBI thought that security had been breached.
Beginning their investigation into how the Director of the CIA’s personal email had been hacked, the FBI agents instead uncovered evidence that he and 40-year-old Paula Broadwell were involved in an extramarital affair.
FBI investigators first interviewed David Petraeus about what they had found two weeks ago and informed him that no criminal charges would be brought and no-one is thought to have discussed the possibility of his resignation.
But, according to the Washington Post, after an investigation Justice Department officials were unclear what to do next, because no crime had occurred nor breach of security.
Paula Broadwell allegedly sent threatening e-mails to another woman she suspected of being too close to David Petraeus
They contacted James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence and told him they had compromising material about David Petraeus.
James Clapper in turn spoke to David Petraeus and advised him to resign.
“Director Clapper learned of the situation from the FBI on Tuesday evening around 5 p.m.,” the intelligence official said to the Washington Post.
“In subsequent conversations with Director Petraeus, Director Clapper advised Director Petraeus to resign.”
Director James Clapper also added that he did not see the need for an internal investigation by the CIA, citing it as “a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence”.
On Wednesday evening, Director James Clapper went to the White House and on Thursday morning President Barack Obama was informed.
Later on Thursday, David Petraeus arrived to see the President and offered his resignation, which was accepted on Friday.
The Washington Post has also reported that in an email message to a friend, David Petraeus apologized for his actions.
“He was deeply sorry for the pain he has caused his family,” the friend said.
“He also noted how much he loved his job at the agency. He said he really relished the intellectual challenge there.”
Paula Broadwell’s biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, was written with Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post editor, and published in January.
The resignation comes at a sensitive time. The administration and the CIA have struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others. It was an issue during the presidential campaign that ended with Barack Obama’s re-election Tuesday.
The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a militant terror attack.
It has become clear that the CIA was aware the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the Muslim world.
Michael Morell rather than David Petraeus now is expected to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the assault on the consulate in Benghazi, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
David Petraeus, who turned 60 on Wednesday, has been married for 38 years to Holly Petraeus, whom he met when he was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. She was the daughter of the academy superintendent. They have two children, and their son led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan.
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The contoversial resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus on Friday threatens to undermine next week’s hearings into the deadly attack at the U.S. Consulate in Libya, at which he was scheduled to testify.
David Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA following revelations he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell and acknowledging that he “showed extremely poor judgment”.
The highly-decorated general, 60, had recently traveled to Libya and the Middle East, and was to testify about the Benghazi attack next week behind closed doors to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Fears have also emerged as his resignation comes at an extremely sensitive time. The administration and the CIA have struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.
It was an issue during the presidential campaign that ended with Barack Obama’s re-election Tuesday.
David Petraeus had led the CIA for only 14 months. His sudden departure threatened to usher in a period of instability at the spy agency, which is grappling with a leveling off in its budget after a decade of steady increases.
The agency is also fending off questions about its performance before and after the attack that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya.
U.S. officials insisted that the CIA’s handling of the Benghazi incident had nothing to do with David Petraeus’ decision to resign.
The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a militant terror attack.
It has become clear that the CIA was aware the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the Muslim world.
Michael Morell rather than David Petraeus now is expected to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the September 11 attacks on the consulate in Benghazi.
According to the New York Times, David Petraeus told the White House of the affair, only one day after Barack Obama secured a second term in the White House.
The president did not immediately accept it, aides told the Times, and only reluctantly agreed to it on Friday.
David Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA following revelations he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell
News Corps’ Rupert Murdoch was one of masses who took to Twitter to voice his opinion. The 81-year-old Aussie wrote: “Petraeus resignation. Timing, everything suspicious. There has to be more to this story.”
Chiming in with her own conspiracy theory, conservative talk show radio host Laura Ingraham wrote: “CIA Chief Petraus resignation…something about this stinks to high heaven.”
She added: “COINCIDENCE?! Petraeus is set to testify NEXT week at a closed door session on Capitol Hill about Benghazi. Did BHO push him out? This stinks!”
But some, like Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, reacted to the news in a very forgiving fashion.
“Turns out Petraeus is (sic) human being. And of course we definitely can’t have human beings in government!” she wrote.
For the director of the CIA, being engaged in an extramarital affair is considered a serious breach of security and a counterintelligence threat.
If a foreign government had learned of the affair, the reasoning goes, David Petraeus or the person with whom he was involved could have been blackmailed or otherwise compromised. Military justice considers conduct such as an extramarital affair to be possible grounds for court martial.
Failure to resign also could create the perception for the rank-and-file that such behavior is acceptable.
At FBI headquarters, spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment on the information that the affair had been discovered in the course of an investigation by the bureau.
In a statement from the president, Barack Obama said: “I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission.”
But there is no indication that he broke any agency rule in connection with his admitted affair, sources familiar with the matter said.
The CIA has no broad rule banning officials from engaging in extramarital affairs, though if discovered, liaisons by CIA personnel with suspected foreign agents would pose security problems for a U.S. spy.
Barack Obama, who accepted David Petraeus’ resignation in a phone call with him Friday afternoon, said that Michael Morell, the agency’s long-time deputy director, would serve as acting CIA chief.
Michael Morell, who is well respected at both the White House and on Capitol Hill, had previously served as acting director following the departure of former CIA chief Leon Panetta.
He is a leading candidate to be David Petraeus’ permanent successor, sources said.
Other possible candidates being discussed on Capitol Hill include John Brennan, Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser; Obama national security adviser Thomas Donilon; and former congresswoman Jane Harman, who chaired the House intelligence committee.
David Petraeus’ resignation also adds a new vacancy on Barack Obama’s national security team. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will leave after Barack Obama’s first term, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is widely expected to leave as well.
David Petraeus’ wife, Holly, has been an advocate for U.S. veterans and head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Last month, David and Holly Petraeus appeared together at a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Washington to celebrate the premiere of the Ben Affleck film Argo, which chronicles a successful operation in which the CIA and Canadian diplomats smuggled a group of U.S. officials out of Tehran during the 1979-80 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
In a letter to the CIA workforce, David Petraeus said that he met with Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday and asked “to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position”.
“After being married for 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” David Petraeus wrote.
“Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”
Barack Obama, who was re-elected to a second term on Tuesday, said in a statement that he accepted David Petraeus’ resignation, praising him for his work at the CIA and for leading U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The sudden and dramatic turn of events appeared to end the public career of a widely admired man who played a key role in the Iraq war, led the U.S. Central Command and commanded U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
David Petraeus’ name had circulated speculatively as a possible Republican presidential nominee before Barack Obama tapped him as CIA chief. Before taking the CIA post, he retired as an Army general after nearly four decades of military service.
Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney have opened up about their feelings on their mother Kris Jenner’s extramarital affair.
The two sisters air their thoughts on the issue during tomorrow night’s episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Kris Jenner confessed to the fling in her recent autobiography.
The reality show matriarch was married to Robert Kardashian, Kim and Kourtney’s late father, when she strayed.
Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney have opened up about their feelings on their mother Kris Jenner's extramarital affair
Kris and Robert divorced and in 1991, then Kris married Bruce Jenner.
As they talked, Kourtney Kardashian revealed that she was angry that her other included the infidelity in her book.
Kim Kardashian told her to talk it through with their mother because “you have this resentment towards mom”.
But despite the revelation of the affair, Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner are just as close as ever.
The two were spotted this weekend in Beverly Hills for a round of exercise.
