It is unlikely President Donald Trump will hire retired Gen. David Petraeus to lead his White House national security team because of his past transgressions regarding the mishandling of classified information, bestselling author and investigative reporter Ron Kessler told Newsmax TV.
Kessler told Tuesday's "America Talks Live" host Steve Malzberg that Trump will steer clear of Petraeus as he searches for a new national security adviser.
"He was not only convicted and plead guilty to providing classified information to his lover but lying to the FBI," Kessler said. "I dealt with him, because I broke the story of the fact that the FBI was behind his resignation, and I found that he was not exactly candid. And then when he was on TV recently . . . he said, 'When I spoke to the FBI, I didn't think that I was lying. I didn't think that I was neglecting to mention what really happened. I didn't think that this material was actually classified.'
"I cannot imagine Donald Trump appointing Petraeus to anything."
Kessler is the author of "The First Family Detail."
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Trump accepted the resignation of his now former national security adviser Michael Flynn Monday night. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, came under fire for having conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Those discussions might have touched on the sanctions former President Barack Obama placed on Russia after U.S. intelligence concluded it had meddled with last fall's presidential election.
Petraeus, a retired Army general, served as CIA director from 2011-2012, before he resigned amid a scandal involving the sharing of classified information with his biographer and mistress.
Petraeus has been named as a potential successor to Flynn.
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