Adam Goldman writing in the Washington Times
* * * * *
Inside a secure conference room on the 6th floor of the
Justice Department in early 2014, top federal law enforcement officials
gathered to hear what criminal charges prosecutors were contemplating against
David H. Petraeus, the storied wartime general and former CIA director whose
public career had ended about 15 months earlier over an extramarital affair.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and FBI Director
James B. Comey listened as prosecutors did a mock run through the government’s
case, a preview of how they would present their evidence to Petraeus’ lawyers
in order, they hoped, to force a guilty plea.
The presentation included felony charges: lying to the
FBI and violating a section of the Espionage Act. A conviction on either
carried potentially years in prison.
They were also considering bringing the same charges
against his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell.
The government would never file those charges.
* WHAT WAS OBAMA TOLD. WHEN WAS OBAMA TOLD. DID OBAMA
MAKE THE ULTIMATE DECISION?
* FOLKS... DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE HOLDER DIDN'T
DISCUSS THE CASE - AND THE OPTIONS - WITH HIS BOSS... PRESIDENT OBAMA?
* FOLKS... DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE PRESIDENT OBAMA
DIDN'T MAKE THE ULTIMATE DECISION?
* AND THAT LEAVES US WITH THE QUESTION: WHY DID OBAMA (OR
HOLDER, IF YOU INSIST) ACT AS HE DID?
Not everyone at Justice shared the prosecutors confidence...
* ANY NAMES TO SHARE?
(*SMIRK*)
(*SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)
...and lawyers for Petraeus and Broadwell separately
pushed back hard, saying they would fight and beat the charges being considered
by the Justice Department.
* Er... THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE PAID TO DO - RIGHT?
(*SNORT*)
Moreover, with its mix of sex and government secrets, a
trial promised to be an uncomfortably tawdry affair, one some in government —
as well as the defense — preferred to avoid.
* AGAIN... WHO ARE THESE "SOME?"
Petraeus, in the end, pleaded guilty early last year to a
misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified material. No charges were ever
brought against Broadwell.
(*SMIRK*)
The Justice Department has never discussed how it reached
its decision to accept a plea on the lesser charge. But six current and former
U.S. officials, as well as others familiar with the case, provided the first
detailed look at the internal debates and wrangling with Petraeus’ lawyers that
took place before the retired four star general entered his guilty plea in
federal court in Charlotte, N.C. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
private legal deliberations.
(*GUFFAW*)
* FOLKS... IT'S AN OUTRAGE. IT SERIOUSLY IS. I'D EVEN GO
SO FAR AS TO CALL IT A CONSPIRACY. THESE SIX CURRENT AND FORMER U.S. OFFICIALS
SHOULD HAVE THE COURAGE AND INTEGRITY TO GO ON THE RECORD. PERIOD.
As part of the agreement, Petraeus admitted that he
improperly removed and retained highly sensitive information in eight personal
notebooks that he gave to Broadwell. The Justice Department said the
information, if disclosed, could have caused “exceptionally grave damage.”
* "EXCEPTIONALLY GRAVE DAMAGE..."
Officials said the notebooks contained code words for
secret intelligence programs, the identities of covert officers, war strategy
and deliberative discussions with the National Security Council.
* PETRAEUS SHOULD BE IN PRISON AT THIS VERY MOMENT;
INSTEAD, HE'S MAKING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS... PERHAPS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS... IN THE
"PRIVATE SECTOR." (THAT IS... IF ONE CAN CALL CRONY CAPITALISM
"PRIVATE" ENTERPRISE.)
The plea agreement was an outcome that left some in the
Justice Department angry, particularly at the FBI, and some agents have argued
privately that it will damage future efforts to secure prison terms in leak
cases.
* AND AGAIN... OF COURSE... NO NAMES. (THIS IS
"INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING"... IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.)
But others in government defended the deal as the only
viable conclusion to a case where a successful prosecution on the more serious
charges was far from certain.
* MORE "UNNAMED" OFFICIALS. (HMM... I WONDER
WHO THEY ARE... AND I WONDER WHICH PARTY THEY'RE ALIGNED WITH...)
(*SMIRK*)
“Nobody was going to be happy with the outcome,” said a
former Justice Department official. “There was nothing about this case that was
typical.”
* ONE... MORE... TIME: "EXCEPTIONALLY GRAVE
DAMAGE..."
* FOLKS... THEY DON'T EVER PRETEND THAT WE'RE A NATION
UNDER THE RULE OF LAW ANYMORE.
The plea agreement, while it kept Petraeus out of prison,
probably ended whatever ambition he had to become president. It also does not
protect him from further punishment — such as stripping him of a star — by the
military. The Army recently recommended that Petraeus should not face further
punishment, but the final decision rests with Defense Secretary Ashton B.
Carter who is considering how to rule, according to Pentagon officials.
* FOLKS... DON'T BE DISTRACTED! ONE MORE TIME: "EXCEPTIONALLY
GRAVE DAMAGE..."
“I have turned the page on these matters, I am looking
forward, and I will have no further comment. I resigned as CIA Director, publicly
apologized for my conduct, and formally accepted responsibility,” said
Petraeus, 63, in a statement.
* OH, PLEASE; YOU ACCEPTED NO RESPONSIBILITY; MY GUESS IS
THAT YOU MADE A DEAL WITH OBAMA.
“I served my country for over 38 years, including five
combat commands during my final decade in uniform. I will leave it to the
public and to history to judge that record. Beyond that, I will always regret
the mistakes I made, and I will always be grateful to those who have supported
me.”
* AGAIN... THIS PIECE OF $HIT SHOULD BE IN PRISON.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
* YEAH... WHAT A SURPRISE...
In October 2012, Sean Joyce, the deputy director of the
FBI, informed Petraeus, then CIA director, that a pair of FBI agents out of
Tampa needed to come to agency headquarters to talk to him. They were
investigating a cyber-stalking case.
The FBI had discovered that Broadwell had sent anonymous
emails to a Tampa Bay socialite named Jill Kelley and her husband months
earlier. Kelley, who described the emails as harassing, contacted a friend who
was an agent in the FBI Tampa Field Office.
The FBI became interested because the emails contained
information about Petraeus’ schedule, raising concerns about a possible threat
to the CIA director.
As the investigation widened, and Broadwell, now 43, was
identified, the bureau discovered that she had also sent anonymous emails to
military officials — and appeared to be involved in a romantic relationship
with Petraeus.
* SEX FOR SECRETS.
* AGAIN... PETRAEUS IS A PIECE OF $HIT WHO SHOULD BE IN
PRISON AT THIS VERY MOMENT. INSTEAD... HE'S STILL A WASHINGTON INSIDER AND WELL
ON HIS WAY TO BECOMING A VERY RICH MAN.
On Oct. 26, the Tampa agents arrived at the CIA and began
an interview in the director’s office on the 7th floor. The agents wanted to
talk to him about Broadwell and Kelley. Petraeus admitted the affair with
Broadwell and told the agents he had lost his moral compass. He said the
relationship began after he left the military.
* WHICH WAS A LIE - CORRECT?
In the interview at Langley, the FBI agents also asked
the CIA director about secret power-point briefings on the Afghanistan war that
were in Broadwell’s possession. They also asked if he had ever provided
classified information to Broadwell or facilitated her obtaining it. He denied
ever doing that — a statement that later led some in the Justice Department to
argue that he should be charged with lying to the FBI when it emerged she had
more sensitive material.
* YA THINK...?!?!
The interview ended after about an hour with Petraeus
realizing his career was in jeopardy because of the affair.
Petraeus spoke with Joyce and asked if there was any way
to quietly resolve the issue and avoid a scandal, according to former and
current U.S. officials.
The FBI’s position was clear: The agents were going to
follow the facts.
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence,
learned about the investigation. Petraeus offered his resignation, but said he
hoped there was a way he could remain CIA director.
(*SNORT*)
On Nov. 9, he stepped down.
What first appeared to be a cyber-stalking was rapidly
expanding into a national security leak investigation when FBI agents copied
the hard-drive of Broadwell’s computer and found secret documents.
On Nov. 12, with her consent, agents searched Broadwell’s
house. ... Investigators discovered more than 100 photographs she had taken of
highly classified information from eight bound notebooks Petraeus had kept
while commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
They also found other classified material in her
possession linked to a 2003 period in which she served on a Joint Terrorism
Task Force in Denver.
* GEEZUS...
It eventually became clear to the FBI that Petraeus had
given those journals to Broadwell as part of her research into the book; the
FBI seized the journals in April 2013 after searching Petraeus’ house in
Virginia.
Broadwell also recorded a conversation in which Petraeus
told her the journals contained classified information, a statement the FBI
would attempt to use against him.
(*UTTER AND COMPLETE SILENCE*)
But there was disagreement inside the Justice Department
and FBI about whether Broadwell should be charged, with some arguing that she
enjoyed protection as a journalist.
* SHE CONSPIRED WITH PETRAEUS...!
(*BLOOD PRESSURE SPIKING*)
* SHE CONSPIRED WITH PETRAEUS TO COMPROMISE NATIONAL
SECURITY! THESE WEREN'T SECRETLY MAILED TO HER BY AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE! FOLKS...
PLEASE...!
In June 2013, following harsh criticism of leak
investigations targeting the media, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, said he
would not indict any journalist for doing their job.
* BUT SHE WASN'T DOING HER JOB; SHE WAS BASICALLY...
CONSPIRING WITH PETRAEUS TO VIOLATE NATIONAL SECURITY.
Broadwell had media credentials while researching in
Afghanistan, and she had written stories and op-eds in newspapers and policy
journals.
* SO....?!?!
Her lawyers, including Robert F. Muse, met with
prosecutors in May 2014.
“We established that Paula Broadwell was a fully
credentialed member of the media and entitled to all the protections under the
First Amendment and DOJ policy,” Muse said. “Ultimately the government’s
decision is consistent with what the attorney general told Congress and what
President Obama stated: Namely members of the media would not be prosecuted for
doing their job.”
He said he had no further comment on the case.
* I CAN SEE WHY! HIS STATEMENT IS TOTALLY BOGUS! HIS
LOGIC IS TOTALLY BOGUS! FOLKS... THEY COULD HAVE GIVEN BROADWELL IMMUNITY AND
FORCED HER TO TESTIFY AGAINST PETRAEUS! (AND BY THE WAY, FOLKS... MUSE WAS
BROADWELL'S LAWYER! OF COURSE HE'S GONNA SAY THIS!)
Former and current Justice Department officials said
prosecutors did give her media status.
* SO... IF YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA... YOU CAN
CONSPIRE WITH U.S. MILITARY COMMAND PERSONNEL TO KNOWINGLY AND DELIBERATELY ENGAGE IN SYSTEMATIC VIOLATION OF U.S. LAWS... AND... THAT'S FINE? (FOLKS... DOES ANYONE BUY
THIS BULL$HIT?!)
The cyber-stalking investigation that began in Tampa was
closed at the end of 2012, but prosecutors in Charlotte, where Broadwell lived,
continued to examine whether Petraeus had leaked classified information and
whether he had lied to the FBI.
* THE ANSWER IS "YES" TO BOTH!
In July 2013, Petraeus’ lawyers met with prosecutors in
North Carolina who told them there was an issue in the case involving
classified information and they would need security clearances before it could
be fully discussed. Also in attendance at that meeting in Charlotte was Richard
Scott, an attorney in the counter-espionage section of the Justice Department’s
National Security Division at main headquarters in Washington — and Petraeus’ lawyers
regarded his presence as an ominous sign.
Months of silence ensued, however, until February 2014
when the lawyers were invited back to Charlotte for a meeting with prosecutors
who planned to lay out their case — the same presentation Holder and Comey had
listened to.
Prosecutors emphasized they were pursuing felonies, not
misdemeanors, including also a conspiracy charge.
* WHAT DID I TELL YOU...!!!
The presentation focused in particular on the contents of
the eight notebooks. Lawyers for the general learned for the first time that
the Justice Department was threatening to charge Petraeus with three felonies,
including, “Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information” under the
Espionage Act.
* WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE PIECE OF $HIT DID! CONSPIRING
WITH THAT OTHER PIECE OF SHIT - BROADWELL!
A conviction could have sent Petraeus to prison and cost
him his pension.
In late April, at a meeting in Washington with
prosecutors, Petraeus himself listened to the same presentation of the
government’s case.
His legal team later rejected any possibility of pleading
guilty to felony offenses.
In July 2014 in Charlotte, Petraeus’ lawyers told
prosecutors they couldn’t show he intended to disclose classified information
and pointed to Broadwell’s book, which contained none and had been personally
vetted by the general.
* IT... DOESN'T... MATTER...!!!
And they brought up an array of classified material that
had appeared in other books and articles, including those written by cabinet
members, and had not led to any prosecutions.
* IRRELEVANT. (PLUS... I'M GUESSING THOSE BOOKS WERE
"VETTED" AND APPROVED.)
That showed, they said, that some of the material
Broadwell had obtained from Petraeus was already in the public domain.
* AND DID PETRAEUS KNOW THIS? AND IF HE DID... DID HE
REPORT THE SECURITY BREACHES TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES?
(*SMIRK*)
* COM'ON, FOLKS... THIS IS RIDICULOUS. PETRAEUS KNOWINGLY
AND DELIBERATELY SHARED CLASSIFIED INFORMATION WITH HIS LOVER - HIS LOVER WHO
KNOWINGLY ACCEPTED "RECEIPT" OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. BOTH OF THESE
SCUMBAGS SHOULD BE IN PRISON.
* FOLKS... LET'S RETURN TO EARLIER PARAGRAPHS:
Petraeus admitted that he improperly removed and retained
highly sensitive information in eight personal notebooks that he gave to
Broadwell. The Justice Department said the information, if disclosed, could
have caused “exceptionally grave damage.”
Officials said the notebooks contained code words for
secret intelligence programs, the identities of covert officers, war strategy
and deliberative discussions with the National Security Council.
* ARE WE CLEAR NOW...? ARE WE CLEAR ON WHAT PETRAEUS
DID...?!?!
They also said his statements to the FBI weren’t material
to the investigation, and didn’t impede it.
* THE "THEY" BEING... (*DRUM ROLL*)...
PETRAEUS' LAWYERS! (WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT THEM TO SAY...?!?!)
And the lawyers pointed to Justice Department guidelines,
which say it is not policy to charge “in situations in which a suspect, during
an investigation, merely denies guilt in response to questioning by the
government.”
* SCOOTER LIBBY...?!?!?
In early February 2015, lawyers for Petraeus and the
government met once again at the Bicentennial Building in the District. James
Melendres, a prosecutor with the National Security Division, offered a deal.
* I'M SURE HE DID...
* AGAIN... DID HOLDER "SIGN OFF" ON THE DEAL -
OR DID HOLDER... ORDER... THE DEAL?
* AGAIN... WHAT ROLE DID OBAMA PLAY? (FOLKS... WE'RE
TALKING THE FORMER DIRECTOR THE CIA! WE'RE TALKING OBAMA'S FORMER DIRECTOR OF
THE CIA! DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE OBAMA NOT ONLY DIDN'T TAKE THE LEAD...
BUT WASN'T EVEN IN THE LOOP?)
(*SNORT*)
For this to go away, Melendres said, Petraeus would have
to plead guilty to lying to the FBI and mishandling classified information, a
misdemeanor.
* AGAIN... SCOOTER LIBBY...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
In the statement of facts that would accompany the plea
agreement, prosecutors also said they would want to reference a Petraeus
message sent to the CIA workforce in 2012 after John Kiriakou, a former agency
officer, was convicted of leaking classified information.
“Oaths do matter, and there are indeed consequences for
those who believe they are above the laws that protect our fellow officers and
enable American intelligence agencies to operate with the requisite degree of
secrecy,” Petraeus had said.
(*SNORT*)
* THE MOTTO OF THE SCUMBAGS WHO PRESENTLY CONTROL THE
U.S. GOVERNMENT: "ONE LAW FOR THEE; ANOTHER FOR ME!"
Petraeus’ lawyer, David E. Kendall declined to comment.
* YEAH. I BET!
But another person familiar with the meeting said he
described the lying charge as “a non-starter.” The Kiriakou reference was also
off the table, he said.
Scott, the NSD prosecutor, threatened to call off the
talks if Kendall insisted on a no contest plea. On this, Kendall relented.
The end came about a week later when the sides hammered
out the agreement of a misdemeanor guilty plea.
* OBAMA'S AMERIKA...
(*PURSED LIPS*)
Petraeus, in a statement of facts, would admit that his
statements to the FBI “were false.” The agreed fine was $40,000 and he accepted
probation for two years.
* I WONDER HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS...
OR PERHAPS EVEN MILLIONS... PETRAEUS HAS RAKED IN SINCE THE PLEA...
(*SHRUG*)
On April 23, 2015 Petraeus pleaded guilty in Charlotte.
The judge upped the fine to $100,000.
* WHY DID THE JUDGE ACCEPT THE PLEA? (FOLKS... COM'ON...
THIS STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!)
A former senior Justice Department official said it was
the "cleanest” possible outcome for both sides.
* SO MUCH FOR THE... ADVERSARIAL... JUSTICE SYSTEM...
(*SMIRK*)
* FOLKS. THE FIX WAS IN. OF THAT I HAVE NO DOUBT.
Holder, who was planning to leave office and didn’t want
to leave the case for the next attorney general, approved the settlement.
(*SMIRK*)
Holder declined to comment.
(*ANOTHER SMIRK*)
But he offered this explanation for his decision at a
media event last year when asked if there was a double standard that allowed
Petraeus to plead to a misdemeanor when his department had zealously pursued
others for similar alleged crimes.
“There were factors that made the resolution of the case
appropriate,” he said. “There were some unique things that existed in that case
that would have made the prosecution at the felony level and a conviction at
the felony level very, very, very problematic.”
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