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Tags: Dianne Feinstein | David Petraeus | charges | leak | classified

Sen. Feinstein: Petraeus is an American Hero and Has 'Suffered Enough'

By    |   Sunday, 11 January 2015 12:21 PM EST

Retired Gen. David Petraeus has "suffered enough" and should not face an indictment for charges that he improperly provided classified information to a female Army Reserve officer with whom he was having an affair, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Sunday.

"This man has suffered enough, in my view," the California Democrat told CNN's "State of the Union." He made a mistake, [and] he lost his job as a CIA director because of it. I mean, how much do you want to punish somebody?"

Feinstein noted that Petraeus is the "four-star general of our generation" who 'put together the Army Field Manual...I think he is a very brilliant man."

But people "aren't perfect," said Feinstein, who noted that she doesn't know if he directly gave material to the woman, Paula Broadwell, including access to his CIA email account and other highly classified information.

"I know she had access to classified data by her own classification, so it's murky, but be that as it may, it's done," Feinstein said. "It's over, and he's retired. He's lost his job. I mean, how much does the government want?"

Sen. John McCain, who was also on CNN Sunday, said he believes it was inappropriate for information to be leaked on a possible indictment, calling it a "violation of any citizen's rights to have that information leaked, much less a man as Dianne Feinstein just said, that is a genuine American hero."

The Arizona Republican said he does not know if Petraeus is guilty or innocent, but unlike Feinstein, he said he would not make a judgment call on whether the retired general should be indicted.

"[It] is one of the great honors of my life is to meet, have known some great military leaders," said McCain. "This man is unique. He is one of the great leaders. Ask anybody who served under him. He was an architect of the surge which turned Iraq around. He may have saved thousands of young Americans' lives, and obviously he deserves better treatment than have a leak to the New York Times about a recommendation, which is a violation of his rights and any citizen's rights."

Attorney General Eric Holder, who appeared on all of Sunday's talk shows, refused comment about the ongoing investigation, but said he agreed with McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who also said this past week that the leak about a potential indictment for Petraeus violated his rights.

"I can't really comment on what is an ongoing matter but I will say that I share those concerns expressed by two senators who I have a great deal of respect for," said Holder. "But I also want to assure them and the American people that any investigation that is ongoing will be done in a fair and an appropriate way."

He told CNN that often leaks are made to the media by people who are not in a position to really know what is going on, and are often inaccurate, but would not comment on whether that is the case in the Petraeus matter.

"We have done this investigation, I think, in an appropriate way, and appropriate determination will be done, and it will be done in a way that I think the American people will ultimately decide what was fair to everyone who was involved," Holder said.

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Sandy Fitzgerald

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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Retired Gen. David Petraeus has suffered enough and should not face an indictment for charges that he improperly provided classified information to a female Army Reserve officer with whom he was having an affair, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Sunday. This man has suffered...
Dianne Feinstein, David Petraeus, charges, leak, classified
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2015-21-11
Sunday, 11 January 2015 12:21 PM
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