David Petraeus Washington National Cathedral - P 2012
Getty ImagesCIA Director Gen. David Petraeus abruptly resigned his post on Friday stating that he has shown “extremely poor judgement” by engaging in an extramarital affair. In a statement, President Obama said that he accepted the resignation and that his “thoughts and prayers” are with Petraeus and his wife, Holly, during the incident.
Shortly after the statements were announced, Slate columnist Fred Kaplan reported that the woman that Petraeus had an affair with was his biographer, Paula Broadwell, who co-authored All In: the Education of General David Petraeus. The book was released in January of this year.
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“While conducting research over the past three years, Broadwell was afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates and his longtime friends,” reads the book’s description. It also states on the book’s website that Broadwell was embedded in Afghanistan with the general for a year between July 2010 and 2011.
“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 wrote in his resignation letter.
On her website, Paula Broadwell is described as being married to radiologist Dr. Scott Broadwell.
Days ago, Broadwell wrote a Newsweek piece entitled “General David Petraeus’s Rules for Living” that excerpted a few “lessons on leadership” that the general imparted to his troops.
Earlier this year she appeared on The Daily Show to promote her book, and Stewart remarked about how generous her book was to Petraeus. “I would say the controversy here is ‘is he awesome or is he incredibly awesome.’ It’s a nice portrait,” remarked Stewart.
Broadwell had defended her book in an interview with Arthur Kade saying that the book is “not a hagiography, I’m not in love with David Petraeus, but I think he does present a terrific role model for young people, for executives, for men and women.”
Broadwell is reportedly under investigation from the FBI for improperly trying to accessing the general’s emails, law enforcement officials told NBC News. The network’s Richard Engel noted that “law enforcement officials said they do not believe the FBI investigation will result in any criminal charges. They also stressed that Petraeus is not under investigation.”
President Obama’s statement concluded that “my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time.”
