PETRAEUS – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  Many are stunned by reports that elements in the Justice Department and FBI want to prosecute David Petraeus, the most prominent military officer of his time, for unauthorized disclosure of classified information.  There is a lot of skepticism about the real motive here.  From ace national-defense reporter Eli Lake, at Bloomberg:   

With the news that U.S. prosecutors and FBI officers are seeking to charge former CIA director David Petraeus with felony violations for mishandling classified information, it’s a good moment to reflect on the lengths to which the Obama administration has gone to protect state secrets.

While Barack Obama campaigned in 2008 to bring more transparency to government, his administration has been a fierce defender of official secrecy. In 2012, his Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of Associated Press reporters for disclosing details of an al Qaeda terrorist plot originating in Yemen. More U.S. officials have been charged with leaking secret information under Obama’s presidency than any other modern president. Obama’s Justice Department has also invoked the state secrets privilege in a string of civil lawsuits brought on behalf of detainees who have been sent to third-world jails.

And now some department lawyer are looking to charge Petraeus for leaking secrets to Paula Broadwell, his biographer and one-time mistress. The classified documents were reportedly found on Broadwell’s personal computer at her home.

It’s possible the FBI has dug up more serious criminal activity than this. But that seems doubtful. As Josh Rogin and I reported last month, Petraeus has retained his security clearance and even has served as an unofficial adviser to the White House on Iraq and Syria while the FBI’s investigation remained open. If Petraeus was such a risk to disclose state secrets, then why is he allowed to retain access to them while the FBI conducts a probe that has lasted now for more than two years?

What’s more, Broadwell herself was writing a second book on Petraeus. When Broadwell -- a graduate of West Point -- was writing her first biography of him, she was given access to top secret information covering the period in which Petraeus commanded allied forces in Afghanistan. This arrangement is common in Washington for established authors. Sources for Bob Woodward, whose books often disclose classified information that is provided to him through semi-official leaks, are not investigated for betraying state secrets.

COMMENT:  Something does seem funny here.  Is there a vendetta against Petraeus?  Are they holding prosecution over his head to shut him up on some subject, like Benghazi?  Is there an element trying to humiliate the American military?

Read the whole story.  Eli Lake really knows his stuff on this, and puts the Petraeus case into perspective.

January 11, 2015