WASHINGTON — David H. Petraeus, the best-known military commander of his generation, has reached a plea deal with the Justice Department that will allow him to avoid an embarrassing trial over whether he provided classified information to a mistress when he was the director of the CIA.
Petraeus will plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Petraeus has signed the agreement, said Marc Raimondi, a Justice Department spokesman.
The plea deal completes a spectacular fall for Petraeus, a retired four-star general who was once discussed as a possible candidate for vice president or even president. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the architect of a counterinsurgency strategy that at one time seemed a model for future warfare.
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His mistress, Paula Broadwell, is a former Army Reserve officer who had an affair with Petraeus in 2011, when she was interviewing him for a biography, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.”
Petraeus resigned as the director of the CIA in 2012, three days after President Barack Obama was re-elected. At the time, Petraeus acknowledged the affair. He has since denied any criminal wrongdoing.
The plea deal spares Petraeus a high-profile trial where embarrassing details about the affair would have been presented to the jury and made public. Petraeus is still married to Holly Petraeus.
Petraeus received most of his accolades for his service in Iraq. He was credited with directing the so-called surge of U.S. forces in 2006 that pushed militants of al-Qaida, who had taken control of several major cities and provinces, out of the country, stabilizing Iraq and allowing the withdrawal of all U.S. forces about five years later.
In 2010, Obama asked Petraeus to attempt the same feat in Afghanistan, where the Taliban had gained significant territory. His counterinsurgency measures that time had some success, but not nearly as much as in Iraq.
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Nevertheless, he was revered by members of both parties, and in 2011, Obama tapped him to lead the CIA.
FBI agents discovered the affair as they investigated cyberstalking allegations that had been made by Jill Kelley, one of Petraeus’ friends. Kelley, of Tampa, Florida, told the FBI that an anonymous person had been sending her threatening emails that told her to stay away from Petraeus.
The agents determined that the emails were coming from Broadwell. As they investigated Broadwell, they learned of the affair and found evidence that Petraeus had shared classified information with her.
Despite the affair and reports that the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors had recommended charges against him, several senators continued to support him.
In a letter to Holder in December, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the investigation had robbed the United States of its most experienced military leader.
“At this critical moment in our nation’s security,” McCain wrote, “Congress and the American people cannot afford to have his voice silenced or curtailed by the shadow of a long-running, unresolved investigation marked by leaks from anonymous sources.”
Petraeus has also made a significant amount of money since leaving the CIA. He is a partner at one of the world’s largest private-equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and he has taught at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, including Harvard.
In the days after Petraeus resigned in 2012, Obama appeared to clear him of any significant wrongdoing. At Obama’s first news conference after being re-elected, the president said he had no evidence that Petraeus had disclosed classified information “that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security.”
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“We are safer because of the work that Dave Petraeus has done,” Obama said, referring to his career in government. “And my main hope right now is — is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career.”
But while the disclosures may not have directly affected national security, the FBI found that they amounted to a significant security breach — especially because they had been committed by the CIA director.
Previous coverage:
• No cyberstalking charges for David Petraeus mistress
• Cullen: Scandal highlights the strains of modern war
• Editorial: No special treatment for David Petraeus in leaks
• Prosecutors urge charging Petraeus with felony