FBI claimed Petraeus shared ‘top secret’ info with reporters

[askeptic]

Source: Politico

The investigation that led CIA Director David Petraeus to resign and ultimately plead guilty to a criminal charge of mishandling classified information also uncovered evidence that he discussed highly classified information with journalists, according to a court document obtained Tuesday by POLITICO.
Requesting a search warrant for Petraeus' Arlington, Virginia home in 2013, an FBI agent told a federal magistrate the agency had two audio recordings in which the retired four-star Army general spoke with reporters about matters that authorities believed were "top secret."
Story Continued Below
"There is a recorded conversation between Petraeus and, inter alia, Washington Post reporters, which, based on the information and belief of your affiant, occurred in or about March 2011," Special Agent Diane Wehner wrote. "In the conversation, Petraeus stated, 'I would really love to be on background as a senior military officer.' Later in the recording, Petraeus discusses sensitive military campaigns and operations, some of which, on the basis of a preliminary review ... is believed to contain classified information, including information at the Top Secret level."


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/fbi-petraeus-shared-top-secret-info-with-reporters-224023#ixzz4B0AP5ctL


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/fbi-petraeus-shared-top-secret-info-with-reporters-224023

---

Seems like preferential treatment compared to Manning and Snowden - and Petraeus' leak was all for personal gain. Talk about double standards...

[JonathanRackham]

1. All persons violating national security policy should be treated equally.

This should be from the lowest military enlisted position/civil servant clerk to the highest general/top government official. There should not be two sets of rules or two sets of punishment. Anyone receiving classified/secret information who knowingly does so should be considered complicit.

[JonLeibowitz]

4. Whistleblower protections be damned?

[JonathanRackham]

5. No, I wouldn't include whistle blowers.

Whistle blowing usually involves constitutional issues. It shouldn't include criminal cover up either.

[JonLeibowitz]

8. okay. I agree.

[MADem]

11. That can be problematic.

There are actually things that our government slaps classified markings on, that are available in the public press in other countries.

I've seen it happen. OFTEN.

If some idiot classifies something in the public domain, published in a newspaper in some other part of the world, then people reading that paper who know that the information is contained in a classified document are complicit? Come on. For the most part, they just roll their eyes at the stupidity of the over-classifying fools within our government.

I think we need to get back to more sensible classification policies, like we had during Bill Clinton's presidency--he declassified a TON of, well, bullshit. The Bush regime tacked sharply in the other direction, and the Obama administration hasn't really done much about this matter either way.

If the military wants to establish guidelines for senior military leaders talking to the press, they can do that. Hubris has a way of entering into these interactions, though.

I used to work for a flag who only did interviews with a witness and a tape recorder. He wasn't going to be accused of saying anything he didn't say. He had the best relationships with reporters who checked back to make sure they got the sense of his commentary accurately.

Petraeus loved being "in with the in crowd." That was his undoing.

[SamKnause]

2. Manning and Snowden are not in the club.

Petraeus is.

The rules are different if you are a member.

"It's a big club and you ain't in it." (George Carlin)

It seems the rule of law and paying taxes are for the masses.

The club members can't be bothered with such trivial issues.

[dchill]

3. +1

[mercuryblues]

6. senior military officer

who leaked top secret info to the press. I am positive that his opinion was stark opposite of what Obama was suggesting.

[Sunlei]

7. and the recordings were found in the old 'girl friends' house? probably more females he blabbed to.

[askeptic]

9. FBI found hundreds of classified files on Petraeus biographer Broadwell’s computer: Today

The affidavit is signed by a Charlotte-based FBI agent. Its allegations include:

▪ The documents show that when confronted by the FBI, both Broadwell and Petraeus appeared to mislead investigators about their extensive exchange of classified material, most of it involving military and diplomatic operations during Petraeus’ years as commander of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Petraeus admitted his affair with Broadwell during an October 2012 interview with the FBI in his CIA office. But he said he never gave classified information to her. That answer led some prosecutors to recommend that Petraeus be hit with a felony charge of obstructing a federal investigation. As part of his plea deal with Charlotte-based prosecutors, Petraeus admitted he lied to the FBI.

Interviewed in Charlotte, Broadwell claimed to have gotten some of the documents doing research for her book but “was unable to provide specifics as to how she obtained them ... Broadwell advised that she never received classified information from Petraeus,” the affidavit says.

On the contrary, the new documents include details of multiple emails between the two over classified records, including the “black book” diaries and logs Petraeus kept as commander.

In one exchange included in the affidavit, Broadwell told Petraeus that certain records he’d shared were “naturally very helpful ... (I want more of them! I know you’re holding back.)”

In June 2011, the affidavit says she expressed excitement at Petraeus’ willingness to share certain files. “(I)’ll protect them. And I’ll protect you,” she wrote.

During the same conversation, Petraeus referred to some files from his time as Iraqi War commander. “Class’d, but I guess I might share!” he told Broadwell.

From 2003-2012, Broadwell had security clearance to handle classified information, the affidavit says. But that came with the understanding that she not unlawfully remove the information “from authorized storage facilities” and not store the classified information “in unauthorized locations.”

The FBI found that Petraeus shared eight of his black books with Broadwell in 2011. Those contained secret codes, highly sensitive diplomatic information and wartime strategies, among other highly classified information. At the time, she was writing “All In,” Petraeus’ biography.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article82460877.html#storylink=cpy

[lame54]

10. But, but, E-mails, E-MAILS

[leveymg]

18. This was email over a commercial account.

Last edited Thu Jun 9, 2016, 07:33 AM - Edit history (5)

The US Army just authorized release of this court material in the Petraeus case, including the FBI search warrant application dated April 4, 2013. There are details we've never seen before. The timing of this is interesting as is the purpose of the leaks coming as they are during the run up to the release of the FBI report on HRC's mishandling of classified information.

There is no allegation that Petraeus actually transmitted classified information by email to Paula Broadwell. The unauthorized sharing of information with Broadwell, a US Army Captain with an active security clearance reportedly occurred in early 2012. He was charged and convicted under 18 USC Sec. 1924 of retaining classified materials after leaving military service in August 2012. He was also charged with violation of felony statute Sec. 793(e), mishandling of classified materials, but pled down to a single count of the misdemeanor. According to Petraeus' Wiki:

On March 3, 2015, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Petraeus agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina to a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information.[197] On April 23, 2015, a federal judge sentenced Petraeus to two years’ probation plus a fine of $100,000.

The FBI first became interested in the email exchanges between Petraeus and Broadwell sometime in the late Spring of 2012 as the result of a complaint about cyber-stalking by Broadwell:

Kelley, a Florida socialite who frequently entertained senior military personnel at her and her husband's Tampa mansion,[183] had approached an acquaintance who worked for the FBI Tampa Field Office in the late spring with regard to anonymous emails she considered threatening.[182] The Bureau traced the emails to Broadwell, and noted that Broadwell appeared to be exchanging intimate messages with an email account belonging to Petraeus, which instigated an investigation into whether that account had been hacked into or was someone posing as Petraeus.[184][185][186] According to an Associated Press report, rather than transmit emails to each other's inbox, which would have left a more obvious email trail, Petraeus and Broadwell left messages in a draft folder and the draft messages were then read by the other person when they logged into the same account.[187]

[modestybl]

12. The powerful get away with it...

... that's the system we have for now...

[FairWinds]

13. You folks need to understand that there is a HUGE difference . .

between info that is "confidential" and that which is "top secret."

Manning only released the former, but Petraeus released lots of the latter.

It's pretty dumb to argue that Manning and Petraeus "did the same thing."

They did not.

[Snarkoleptic]

14. Shocking in light of the fact there was a major drumbeat on the right

to draft him into a run for POTUS.

[shadowmayor]

15. Off to Gitmo with this traitor

Let the water-boarding begin. What an incompetent, conniving, puffed-up piece of shit. When I was in Iraq if a soldier misplaced their weapon, it could mean the loss of a stripe and 3 - 6 months pay with an Article 15. This idiot lost nearly a quarter-million weapons somewhere between Europe and Baghdad. Check it out - he lost hundreds of thousands of weapons and ammo destined for the Iraqi security forces; those same ones we have been "training up" for the last 13 years. And his "Surge" was pure propaganda Bullshit for the Fox News crowd and the administration to exit on a "good" note. He is a war criminal and should be rotting in jail - not for his leaking of secrets - for his wanton slaughter of innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What did the people of Iraq ever do to the people of the United States?

[grasswire]

16. was the stuff he and Broadwell transmitted secure?

She kept it all on her PC, too. Who had access to that PC?

[leveymg]

17. Why is this being brought up now, and who was recording whom in 03/11?

Last edited Thu Jun 9, 2016, 09:41 AM - Edit history (14)

Wasn't that before the alleged threatening calls that allegedly triggered the FBI interest in Petraeus and his off the books relationship with his biographer?

Also, if the taped conversation with a reporter occurred in March, 2011, it would have been while Petraeus was under consideration for nomination as CIA Director, which was publicly announced on April 28. At that time, PETRAEUS served as a four-star General and Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and well before Petraeus is known to have shared unauthorized classified information with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. A later recording found on Broadwell's computer indicates that she planned to review records in August stored in Petraeus' attic.

That raises the question, did he tape his own conversation (which seems most likely) and why would he record himself knowingly revealing Top Secret information, if indeed that is the case as suggested by Politico? He was not charged with this. Finally, the article makes it unclear exactly who made that classification determination.

As the Search Warrant Application makes clear at page 5, Paula Broadwell, a US Army Captain, also held an active security clearance at the time classified materials were shared with her.

The application at p. 8 references an email in which the two made reference to a classified document, but did not exchange specific information contained in it. At page 9 of the application, the FBI narrative recounts an instance of release of classified military information from another officer to Broadwell, authorized by Petraeus, over the SIPR, the government's Secure email system, which contains documents classified up to Secret.

According to the application, Broadwell was interviewed by the FBI after a complaint of cyberstalking in late Spring 2012 led the Bureau to examine her email exchanges with Petraeus. She was subsequently interviewed by the FBI who searched her laptops:

Para. 16. On September 24, 2012 as part of the FBI Tampa investigation,
consented to a search of two laptops and two external hard drives belonging to her. A
review of the digital media contained.on these devices revealed over 100 items which
were identified by Charlotte Computer Analysis Response Team (CART) Forensic
Examiners as potentially containing classified information, up to the Secret level.

According to the application at p. 8, subsequent search of Broadwell's home revealed further classified materials in her unauthorized possession:

A review of the seized materials has identified to date
hundreds of potentially classified documents, including more than 300 marked Secret, on
digital images maintained on various pieces of electronic media.

In the most damning email exchange described, Petraeus seems to agree that he might share classified documents related to events that occurred eight or nine years earlier at the time that he transitioned from two-star commander of the 101st Airborne division to commander Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I) (Petraeus commanded forces in Iraq from June 2004-June 2005): (page 12)

"My files at home only go up to about when I took cmd of the 101st, though there may be some MNSTC-I and other ones. Somewhere in 2003, I stopped nice filing and just started chunking stuff in boxes
that gradually have gone, or will go, to NDU. Can search them at some point if they're
upstairs, but they're not organized enough at this point ... " PETRAEUS continued,
writing, &quot A)nd I think MNSTC-I files went to NDU (archives at the National Defense University),
though I'm not sure. The key to find there would be the weekly reports that the CIO did with
me. Not.sure if-kept copies. Class'd, but I guess I might share!" (emphasis added).

The timing of this release has the scent of an attempt to draw a distinction between Petraeus and Clinton. However, if one looks closely at the record, it becomes clearer now that the government built its case against Petraeus on Secret documents revealed to Broadwell, who held a security clearance, that were described as historical in nature. An off the record discussion with Washington Post reporters was likely recorded by Petraeus, himself, in order to maintain a record of exactly what was said. That discussion was determined by another agency to contain information classified at the Top Secret level.

Meanwhile, Clinton's uncertified server accumulated over 2,200 messages with information from 55 Secret documents, and 22 materials (many originating with other agencies) at the highest TS-SAP level, documents that could only be obtained from the most classified gov't information system. Those documents were shared with numerous others, some without security clearances to view them, describing classified US actions and intelligence sources around the world in or near real-time.