WASHINGTON — Retired General David Petraeus will not be docked one star for his conviction on charges of leaking classified information to his biographer and former lover, according to a letter sent with the Pentagon to the Senate and obtained by USA TODAY.
Stephen Hedger, a top official for legislative affairs, wrote Friday to Sen. John McCain saying that Defense Secretary Ash Carter considers the Petraeus matter closed, according to the letter, which was obtained by USA TODAY from a Pentagon official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
A Defense department official told USA TODAY on Saturday that Carter accepted the Army's recommendation that Petraeus not be sanctioned with demotion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Carter agreed with the findings of an Army review that recommended Petraeus be permitted to maintain his four-star rank in retirement, the Defense official said. Holding that rank, while prestigious, also allows him to collect a pension of around $220, 000. Loss of a star could have cost him tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Petraeus reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department last year after a years-long investigation showed he gave Paula Broadwell secret information, including names of covert officers and war strategy.
Petraeus, the highest-profile commander of his generation, lied to FBI agents, divulged a massive amount of sensitive data to Paula Broadwell, and fretted about how she handled them in the interview she recorded with him, court documents showed. She was the co-author of a biography about Petraeus titled, All In, The Education of General David Petraeus.
The federal court levied a fine of $100, 000 against him and placed him on probation in the plea deal.
The revelation that Petraeus and Broadwell had been having an affair forced Petraeus to resign as director of the CIA and tarnished his reputation.
Friday's brief letter concludes the Pentagon's review of Petraeus' record. McCain, the Arizona Republican and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, co-wrote a letter to Carter last week calling on him to never demote Petraeus. The other author was Sen. Jack Reed, D-R. I., and the ranking member of the committee.
They wrote that Petraeus, who held top commands in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring and taking the CIA post, had had a "long career of exceptionally distinguished, honorable and dedicated service to our nation and to the soldiers he so brilliantly led in combat. "
The news of the letter was first reported by the Washington Post.
Federal investigators found Petraeus kept eight black books containing classified and unclassified notes he took during meetings, conferences and briefings during his tenure as a new military commander. In late August 2011, he delivered the books to a private Washington residence where Broadwell — his biographer and mistress — stayed during a week-long trip to the area.
"The D. C. private residence was not approved for the storage of classified information, '' the documents state.
Among the mass of sensitive information in the books were the "identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions … and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings, and discussions with the president of the United States. ''
Also contained in the "black books'' was country wide defense information, including secret code words.
In a conversation recorded by Broadwell, she asked Petraeus about the whereabouts of the black books, and he acknowledged their sensitivity.
"By the way, where are your black books? '' Broadwell asked Petraeus, according to a transcript of a conversation Aug. 4, 2011. "Um, well, they're really — I mean they are highly classified, some of them. "
Later that month, Petraeus sent Broadwell an e-mail in which he "agreed to provide the black books to his biographer'' and left the binders there from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1.
Information filed in federal court in Nc says these lapses were part of a pattern from August 2011 to April 5, 2013, in which Petraeus "unlawfully and knowingly'' removed classified materials and retained them at "unauthorized'' locations. Petraeus agreed to plead guilty to one criminal count of mishandling classified information.
After acknowledging the affair and resigning from the CIA in November 2012, Petraeus signed an agency "security exit form, '' in which he assured authorities there was "no classified material in my possession, custody or control at this time. ''
When he said that, the black books were still at his home, the documents say.
Petraeus was essentially the most lauded general in the post-9/11 era, having devised a counterinsurgency strategy that tamped down violence in Iraq but did not result in conditions he deemed necessary to build an inclusive government. U. S. troops withdrew in 2011, but 3, 000 have returned to advise Iraqi forces battling Islamic State extremists.
Petraeus went on to lead Central Command, which oversees military operations stretching from the Middle East to Afghanistan. President Obama chose him to command forces in Afghanistan when Gen. Stanley McChrystal was fired in 2010 after his staff was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine making disparaging remarks about politicians, which include Vice President Biden.
In Afghanistan, Broadwell, an Army intelligence officer, met and traveled with Petraeus several times for research on her book. They maintain that their affair began after Petraeus left the military. In 2011, Obama named Petraeus to lead the CIA.
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