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Justice Department Spokesman Marc Raimondi released the following statement
Tuesday:
“Three documents – a criminal Information, a plea agreement, and a statement of facts
– were filed today in the United States District Court for the Western District of North
Carolina’s Charlotte Division in the case of United States v. David Howell Petraeus.
The criminal Information charges the defendant with one count of unauthorized
removal and retention of classified material, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1924. The plea
agreement and corresponding statement of facts, both signed by the defendant,
indicate that he will plead guilty to the one-count criminal Information.”
Decorated war veteran and former CIA director David Petraeus has entered into an
agreement with federal prosecutors in which he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor
charge for mishandling classified information.
Specifically, the charge is unauthorized removal and retention of classified material.
The charge stems, in part, from documents the former director allegedly provided to his
mistress.
Following the agreement with Petraeus, the Justice Department issued a statement:
“Three documents — a criminal information, a plea agreement and a statement of facts
— were filed today in the United States District Court for the Western District of North
Carolina’s Charlotte Division in the case of United States v. David Howell Petraeus.
The criminal information charges the defendant with one count of unauthorized
removal and retention of classified material. … The plea agreement and corresponding
statement of facts, both signed by the defendant, indicate that he will plead guilty to
the one-count criminal Information.”
In November 2012, Petraeus resigned as director of the CIA after little more than a
year on the job. For 37 years before that, he served in the U.S. Army, including as
commander of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But that long and successful career in public service came to an end when a long affair
with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became public.
The two met while Broadwell was a graduate student at Harvard University working on
a dissertation about Petraeus. She ultimately gained tremendous access to the
decorated war hero and former four-star general, publishing his biography, “All In,” in
January 2012 — just 10 months before his resignation from the CIA.
Their affair became public by chance. The FBI was trying figure out who had been
sending allegedly harassing emails to a Florida woman with ties to senior U.S. military
officials.
The FBI traced the emails to Broadwell, and a review of her communications ultimately
led the FBI to discover her affair with Petraeus, who was married.
Court Documents include Petraeus Plea AgreementPetraeus Factual Basis