Foreign Policy

Petraeus's mistress has made claims about CIA involvement in Benghazi that have not been public anywhere else. This lends support for those of us who think Petraeus's resignation is more about Benghazi than an affair.

CIA denies it detained militants in Libya, contradicting Petraeus's mistress. I'm telling you, Petraeus's resignation is about Benghazi, not an affair.

"President Barack Obama issued an executive order in January 2009 stripping the CIA of its authority to take prisoners.
The move means the CIA can no longer operate secret jails across the globe as it had done under the administration of President George W. Bush."

But you can bet it still is. This is most likely why Petraeus resigned.

In the establishment's ongoing attempt to distract Americans from the real issue at the heart of Petraeus's resignation, Petraeus was reportedly shocked to hear about the threatening emails. The media knows the American people can be distracted with a salacious sex scandal. Petraeus fell on his sword to provide the distraction. This is a story about secret CIA prisons and the role they played in the Benghazi attack.

So maybe it wasn't Boehner who knew about Petraeus's affair. It was Cantor on October 27. But it could have been Boehner too.

If the Petraeus affair was just about an affair, why did the FBI raid her house? This is going to come out because the FBI hates the CIA.

Judge Napolitano comes out of left field and asks the obvious: where did the FBI get the authority to read Petraeus's email? Well done, judge. He also claims he FBI knew about the affair when the background check on him before he was confirmed as CIA director. Assuming the judge is right, this proves unequivocally he didn't resign over the affair.

Petraeus began his affair when she was embedded in Afghanistan. That was before he became CIA Director. So either the FBI missed it the first time, unlikely, or this is all political theater.

Troubling questions about Petraeus and Benghazi for sure.

"Consider: In the questionnaire a nominee must submit for the confirmation process, there is that final catch-all question.  “Is there anything in your past that could embarrass the president?” That’s when the delicate affair should have been discussed by the Army General War Hero.  Having an embarrassing issue does not disqualify the nominee.  It means more investigation needs to be done to determine whether the conduct really is a problem. Did Petraeus reveal the relationship at that time?
Consider: All candidates for CIA employment must take a polygraph.  Doesn’t the nominee for DCI have to do so also?  And that nasty little catch-all embarrassment question is always asked by the polygrapher. Usually, the polygraphee is thinking back to college and confessing to smoking pot.  In 2011, it would not take a sterling memory for Petraeus to remember a 2011 affair."

So these questions are de rigor.

Even Infowars puts the Petraeus affair down to politics. That's too simple.

"In fact, Petraeus’ initial statements to Congress, behind closed doors on September 14, led legislators to believe that absurd film trailer was the cause of the “uprising” at the house where Stevens was attacked and killed. Was the General’s ridiculous declaration made under orders from the White House, who had the blackmail goods on him?"

Now there's a possibility. Here's some info on the mistress I haven't read anywhere else:

"She has a long military background. A graduate of West Point, she directed counter-terrorism studies at Tufts University. She worked with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. She is no innocent."

Hello. West Point graduate? FBI agent?

"People from both sides of the aisle in Washington are expressing deep sorrow that an American hero had to resign. What nonsense. They’re building cover for Petraeus. They’re intentionally avoiding the question of what compromises he may have agreed to during his peak military service and intelligence directorship."
"Despite claims by a friend that the affair with Broadwell began after Petraeus assumed leadership of the CIA, there is a strong possibility it started earlier, when Broadwell was “embedded” with the general in Afghanistan." 

So if she was in on it from the start, why did she spill the beans? Doesn't make sense.

More on the connection between Benghazi and Petraeus's resignation and the CIA running weapons from Libya to Syria.

This report claims Petraeus's mistress hacked into his email (gmail?) account. Nice security, general.