CIA Chief Resigns, FBI finds him having an extramarital affair

Gen. Petraeus

WASHINGTON: CIA Director David Petraeus resigned as head of the leading US spy agency on Friday, saying he had engaged in an extramarital affair and acknowledging he “showed extremely poor judgment.”

In a letter to the CIA workforce, Petraeus, 60, said he met with President 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,” he wrote. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”

Obama, who was re-elected to a second term on Tuesday, said in a statement he had accepted Petraeus’ resignation, praising him for his work at the CIA and for leading U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Much about the sudden and dramatic turn of events remained unknown Friday evening, including how long the affair had gone on and what prompted Petraeus to resign now, just days after the 2012 presidential election.

Gen. Petraeus

There were indications, however, that the affair was first uncovered a few months ago during an investigation by the FBI.

A US national security source said the FBI had stumbled across evidence of Petraeus’ affair during an apparently unrelated investigation of news leaks.

Petraeus’ revelation of the affair appeared to end the public career of a widely admired warrior-scholar who played a key role in the Iraq war, led the US Central Command and commanded U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Petraeus’ name had circulated speculatively as a possible Republican presidential nominee before Obama tapped him as CIA chief. Before taking the CIA post, he retired as an Army general after nearly four decades of military service.

There is no indication Petraeus 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 US agent.