Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus acknowledged that he “made a serious mistake” in mishandling classified information while he headed the agency.
When asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday what he would say to Republican senators concerned about his possible nomination for secretary of state after his guilty plea last year to unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, Petraeus said “What I would say to them is what I've acknowledged for a number of years. Five years ago, I made a serious mistake. I acknowledged it. I apologized for it. I paid a very heavy price for it and I've learned from it.”
The retired general provided access to classified information to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.
Petraeus acknowledged that the incident would likely be factored into the decision-making process by Senators of his confirmation for the position.
But, he also said they would have to consider “38-and-a-half years of otherwise fairly, in some cases unique service, to our country in uniform and then, at the CIA and then some four years or so in the business community during which I've continued to travel the world nearly 40 countries in that time as well.”
Petraeus also stressed that the FBI acknowledged in the plea agreement that none of the classified information that “I shared, certainly improperly, ended up in the biography or made it out to the public. I think that's a fairly significant point.”
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