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Ex-CIA chief Petraeus pleads guilty

March 3, 2015

Former CIA director David Petraeus has signed a plea deal and admitted to mishandling classified materials. The case arose from an affair with his biographer.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EkXw
Ehemaliger CIA-Direktor David Petraeus
Image: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Petraeus' plea agreement indicating his guilt was filed at a federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The former top Army general and director of the CIA was charged with one count of unauthorized material and retention of classified information.

Investigators had been looking into whether Petraeus provided confidential information and access to his CIA email account to Army Reserve office Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an affair. Broadwell was writing the general's biography.

Petraeus resigned from his post as CIA director in November 2012, marking a sharp fall for a general who served as commander of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who was thought to be a potential presidential candidate.

Both have publicly apologized for the relationship, maintaining it only began after Petraeus resigned from the military and started at the CIA.

jr/jil (Reuters, AP)