Apparently, the Feds weren’t looking for evidence of Petreaus playing around on his wife. They discovered the extramarital affair when investigating his mistress, biographer Paula Broadwell, who allegedly hacked into the CIA director’s private email account.
Broadwell, who researched the book ‘All In’ for three years, had extensive access to Petraeus in Afghanistan. Yet sources told NBC it is unlikely she will face criminal charges after the alleged hacking, stressing that Petraeus himself is under no investigation.
Petraeus stepped down today after confessing to cheating on his wife of 37 years, Holly – behaviour he explained was ‘unacceptable’ for a senior administration official.
He first met Broadwell six years ago when he addressed students at Harvard University, where she is a researcher, and they eventually got to know each other better during mile-long runs.
Broadwell, who served in the military for more than a decade, lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her radiologist husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, and their two young sons, Lucien and Landon.
Broadwell had numerous interviews with hosts from John Stewart to Don Imus. Some of the quotes from those interviews ring some warning bells:
Promoting the book on The Daily Show with John Stewart in January, she insisted that these mile-long runs together were nothing out of the ordinary.
‘This is a typical mechanism for him to get to know young people,’ she said. ‘He’s done it throughout his life. That was the foundation of our relationship.’
n another often awkward radio interview in January, host Don Imus said that the pair must have ‘obviously’ liked each other.
She responded: ‘You know, as I said earlier, he has a number of mentees and that’s one thing that’s different when you compare him to other Senior Commanders.
‘But, yeah, we had a lot of rapport. I think some of that comes from a common ground of having gone to West Point [to the U.S. Military Academy].’
Of her reported rival, she added: ‘He is married to Holly Petraeus, who is a wonderful Military spouse and done so much for their children and for children of fallen soldiers, I respect her immensely.’
Oy. And how about this:
Last week, Broadwell wrote an article entitled ‘David Petraeus’s Rules for Living’ in Newsweek.
One read: ‘We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognize them and admit them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear view mirrors – drive on and avoid making them again.’
One wonders if both driven, successful people will take that advice to heart.
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