1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Petraeus in the House

November 16, 2012

David Petraeus has arrived at the Capitol in Washington for hearings on the assault on the US mission in Libya. Independently, the CIA has begun investigations into the director's resignation after an affair.

https://p.dw.com/p/16kRe
Commander of the International Security Assistance Force/US Forces in Afghanistan General David Petraeus shakes hands with author Paula Broadwell in this ISAF handout photo (Photo: REUTERS/ISAF/Handout)
Image: Reuters

The decorated general, making his first appearance since resigning as CIA director last week in the wake of an extramarital affair with his biographer, is scheduled to appear before a session of the House Intelligence Committee. The general will testify in a Senate hearing later Friday.

Lawmakers could press Petraeus about operations in Libya and his agency's role in the Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead, including the US ambassador. House committee members said Petraeus visited Tripoli after the attack and interviewed several people involved, and that they want to hear directly from the general about what he learned on his trip to Libya.

Petraeus is also expected to be asked about his resignation last week over an extramarital affair. The general and biographer Paula Broadwell said their affair did not put security at risk.

'Exploratory'

FBI agents have found a substantial amount of classified information on Broadwell's personal computer since they searched her North Carolina home with her consent on Monday. Sources briefed on the investigation said the documents date from before August 2011, when Petraeus took up his post at the CIA, and before the two started their affair. None of the material comes from the CIA.

The CIA also announced on Thursday that it had opened an investigation into the former director's conduct, building on the FBI's probe, which will likely end without charges.

"If there are lessons to be learned from this case, we'll use them to improve," CIA spokesman Preston Golson said. "But we're not getting ahead of ourselves. An investigation is exploratory and doesn't presuppose any particular outcome," he added.

mkg/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)