GOV/MIL David Petraeus Scandal: Pentagon Considers Demoting Former CIA Director

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Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Some of the commenting I've seen on this thus far is suggesting that this came out of the Obama Whitehouse related to Hillary's issues or dismissed flag officers speaking out.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.ibtimes.com/david-petrae...onsiders-demoting-former-cia-director-2270057

David Petraeus Scandal: Pentagon Considers Demoting Former CIA Director

By Jackie Salo †y@Jackie_Salo On 01/18/16 AT 7:31 PM

Retired Gen. David Petraeus may be retroactively demoted for giving classified information to his biographer-turned-mistress while he was still in office, according to a Daily Beast report published Monday. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will consider whether to overrule the Army's recommendation to maintain Petraeus' rank.

¡§The secretary is considering going in a different direction¡¨ from the Army, a defense official told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity. The official said if Petraeus is demoted, it will be because Carter wants to send a message about senior officials involved in misconduct.

A demotion would result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the former CIA director, according to the Daily Beast. Petraeus met Paula Broadwell in 2006 when she was a graduate student and then again when she started a case study on the military official in 2008, according to USA Today. Their affair began after Petraeus became CIA director in 2011, while Broadwell was starting her biography of him, "All In: The Education of David Petraeus."

The affair was revealed shortly after one of Petraeus' friends, Jill Kelley, reported to the FBI in 2012 that she had received harassing emails. Authorities found Broadwell was the one behind them and that she and Petraeus were involved in a sexual relationship. It was also revealed that Petraeus had given Broadwell notebooks full of classified information from his time as the top commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Petraeus resigned, was put on probation for two years and was fined $100,00 for pleading guilty to sharing classified information.

Petraeus spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee in September to apologize. "Four years ago, I made a serious mistake ¡X one that brought discredit on me and pain to those closest to me," he said. "It was a violation of the trust placed in me and a breach of the values to which I had been committed throughout my life."
 
H

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/19/ashton-carter-considering-demotion-for-retired-gen/

Ashton Carter considering demotion for retired Gen. David Petraeus

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times - Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter may demote retired Gen. David Petraeus after he admitted he gave classified information to his biographer and mistress while he was still in uniform.

Mr. Carter is looking to clamp down on misbehaving generals, and Gen. Petraeus could be next in line.

"The secretary is considering going in a different direction,” from the Army, which said the four-star general should retain his rank, a defense official told The Daily Beast.

The official said Mr. Carter wants to be consistent in his treatment of senior officers who engage in misconduct. If he chooses to punish Gen. Petraeus it would also send a message that high-ranking military officers are not immune to punishment.

If Gen. Petraeus is demoted, he would most likely become a lieutenant general and could have to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars to make up the annual difference in salaries from his former top ranking. His yearly pension would also drop from $220,000 to $170,000.

Gen. Petraeus retired from the Army in 2011 shortly before his controversial relationship with writer Paula Broadwell became public in August 2012. He admitted to sharing notebooks containing confidential information with Ms. Broadwell while they were overseas.
 
fairbanksb

fairbanksb

Freedom Isn't Free
Pentagon decides not to impose discipline on Petraeus in sex-and-secrets scandal

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...03348e-c767-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html



Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has decided not to impose any further punishment on David H. Petraeus, the former CIA director and retired Army general who was forced to resign in a sex-and-secrets scandal in 2012.

In a brief letter sent Friday to the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon reported that Carter had agreed with the Army’s recommendation not to discipline Petraeus.

“Given the Army’s review, Secretary Carter considers this matter closed,” Stephen C. Hedger, the assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, wrote in the three-sentence letter, obtained by The Washington Post. The letter did not elaborate.

The Pentagon letter was addressed to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the chairman and top Democrat, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

[How David Petraeus avoided felony charges and possible prison time]

In a public letter of their own on Jan. 20, the senators had urged Carter to let the Petraeus matter lie and allow him to keep the four-star rank he had earned during his long career in the Army.

After a lengthy investigation by the FBI that disgraced the onetime military hero, Petraeus pleaded guilty in April in federal court in North Carolina to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified materials. He received two years of probation and a $100,000 fine.

Petraeus’s civilian sentence, however, did not necessarily exempt him from further punishment at the hands of the military. Although he retired from the Army in 2011 to take the top job at the CIA, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice he still could have faced discipline for his actions.

Under military law, Carter could have imposed a range of disciplinary measures, from issuing a non-binding letter of concern about Petraeus’s actions to demoting him from his curent rank as a retired four-star general.

Besides further tarnishing Petraeus’s reputation, stripping him of a star could have cost him tens of thousands of dollars a year in pension payments.

Carter’s decision effectively ends a long and embarrassing period of uncertainty for Petraeus, one of the Army’s most venerated leaders before his reputation was shredded by the scandal.

Petraeus’s attorney, David Kendell, declined to comment Saturday on the outcome of the case.

As part of Petraeus’s plea deal with the Justice Department, he admitted in a signed statement that he had committed wrongdoing while he was still in the Army before he retired in 2011 to take charge of the CIA.

He also admitted that he lied to FBI agents.

Specifically, Petraeus acknowledged providing eight notebooks that contained highly classified material to his biographer, Paula Broadwell, in the waning days of his Army career. Petraeus has also admitted to having an affair with Broadwell.

The notebooks were kept by Petraeus when he served as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011.

They contained code words, war strategy, the names of covert officers and other sensitive information. In addition, the books outlined deliberative discussions with the National Security Council and President Obama.

Broadwell was not charged in that federal investigation. She is still an officer in the Army Reserve, and a senior Army official has said the service was not contemplating taking action against her.

The Justice Department shared its investigative case file on Petraeus with the Army after his guilty plea, and some Justice Department officials made little secret of their desire for the military to take further action against the former spymaster.

After a review, however, then-Army Secretary John McHugh made a formal recommendation in the fall that Carter take no further action in the case. McHugh issued the recommendation as one of his final acts in office before he stepped down as Army secretary on Nov. 1.

Petraeus remains a revered figure within the Army for his leadership during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite the scandal that led to his downfall at the CIA, he also maintains close ties with many influential members of Congress.
Craig Whitlock covers the Pentagon and national security. He has reported for The Washington Post since 1998.
 
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