UPDATE: (01) BLACKMAIL QUESTIONS ALSO RAISED BY OTHERS

Was David Petraeus Blackmailed By His Own  Government? 

An affair that was known to the FBI for months and kept from congressional  oversight committees might explain his complicity in a false narrative of the  Benghazi terrorist attack and the order to "stand down." 

The FBI knew, as early as May, of the harassing emails sent by Petraeus'  paramour Paula Broadwell to social planner Jill Kelley, event coordinator at  MacDill Air Force Base, where Central Command, which Petraeus headed, is based.  The probe commenced at that point and led to full knowledge of the affair by  late summer.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the email links to Petraeus at  that time, it's been reported. Maybe he didn't read the memos just as he claimed  not to read the memos about Fast and Furious. 

If Petraeus carried on the affair while serving in the Army, he could still face  charges, according to Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which  reprimands conduct "of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces." Was  that being held over his head by his own government to force his compliance with  a false Benghazi narrative? What was the reason for secrecy until after the  election? 

Original Blog Entry ...

Once again we see high-level government officials leaking information to the media to curry favor with journalists or to pursue their own self-serving agenda. The details of an FBI integrity/intelligence security investigation should be classified at a level that makes it a crime to disclose such information.

With much of the chatter about “death before dishonor,” one wonders if the administration hopes that they can shame Petraeus into taking his own life or – as conspiracy theorists are wont to speculate – helping the process along. All to take substantial pressure off an administration which may be complicit in a cover-up worse than Watergate. The affair which saw President Nixon resign rather than face impeachment.

Something stinks …

Kessler: FBI Investigation Led to Petraeus Resignation

The resignation of David H. Petraeus as CIA director followed an FBI investigation of many months, raising the question of why he was not forced out until after the election.

However, an FBI source says the investigation began when American intelligence mistook an email Petraeus had sent to his girlfriend as a reference to corruption. Petraeus was commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan from July 4, 2010 until July 18, 2011.

The investigation began last spring, but the FBI then pored over his emails when he was stationed in Afghanistan. The woman who was having an affair with Petraeus is a journalist who had been writing about him.

Given his top secret clearance and the fact that Petraeus is married, the FBI continued to investigate and intercept Petraeus’ email exchanges with the woman. The emails include sexually explicit references to such items as sex under a desk.

At some point after Petraeus was sworn in as CIA director on Sept. 6, 2011, the woman broke up with him. However, Petraeus continued to pursue her, sending her thousands of emails over the last several months, raising even more questions about his judgment. <Source>

Was this the Administration’s blackmail chip? They appeared to know about the affair long before his CIA appointment and Benghazi. Even now the leaked stories do not match up. One story claims “American intelligence mistook an email Petraeus has sent to his girlfriend as a reference to corruption” and another said the” FBI investigation began because a woman close to Petraeus sought protection after receiving several threatening emails from Broadwell.” 

Impeachable Offense: Blackmailed by the Obama Administration?

Might we expect that General Petraeus was being blackmailed by the White House to put forth a story he knew to be untrue before Congress and the American people. The threat being the disclosure of his affair which would definitely be a stain upon his long-touted “honor.”

Why would anyone think this?

What makes this theory plausible is that the FBI is run by the Department of Justice, headed by the hyper-politicized Attorney General Eric Holder – himself no stranger to an alleged cover-up in Fast and Furious; and which puts forth claims of “Presidential Privilege” for documents being sought by Congress. And if that was not enough pressure, perhaps they used the “Eliot Spitzer technique” of suggesting that they would charge Petraeus’ girlfriend with espionage if he didn’t drink the Kool Aid as a “good soldier.”

Or, perhaps because the apparently clueless James Clapper, Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, allegedly  was involved.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the FBI investigation began because a woman close to Petraeus sought protection after receiving several threatening emails from Broadwell. After a deeper look at the general’s personal email account, there were initially questions about whether it had been hacked. But investigators soon concluded from the content of the emails that they were evidence of an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. According to the Post, weeks of probing culminated Tuesday, when Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was told that compromising material had been found. Clapper subsequently told Petraeus to resign.

A senior intelligence official denied reports that Clapper ordered Petraeus to resign but acknowledged that Clapper pushed the CIA director in that direction. “Director Clapper urged Director Petraeus to step down. He was doing that as a friend, as a colleague, as a fellow retired general officer and as an admirer,” said the senior official, who asked not to be named. “This was a conversation between two friends and colleagues.” <Source>

Prelude to Impeachment?

If the affair was known prior to the appointment of Petraeus to the CIA, it appears that national security may have deliberately compromised without the knowledge of Congress? Or the FBI and CIA offices of Professional Responsibility failed in their mission to vet applicants to high offices? Or, it may be that the trail leads to White House decision-making – to the detriment of the United States?

Nobody thought a third-rate burglary at the DNC offices in the Watergate Complex would bring down a president. But it did. And, nobody was killed at Watergate. If the White House was caught gun-running arms to terrorists without Congressional knowledge or approval, or if there was an attempt to cover up incompetence prior to a presidential election cycle, the matter might rise to “high crimes and misdemeanors” and spark a Congressional hearing followed by a drafting of Articles of Impeachment.

-- steve