• Petraeus apologizes for affair that led to CIA resignation

    Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

    Former CIA director and retired four-star general General David Petraeus makes his first public speech since resigning as CIA director at University of Southern California dinner for students Veterans and ROTC students on March 26.

    By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

    David Petraeus apologized Tuesday for the extramarital affair that led to his resignation as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency last November in his first public speech since then.

    Petraeus was invited a year ago -- before the scandal broke -- to be the keynote speaker before 600 guests at the University of Southern California annual ROTC dinner.

    The retired four-star general has remained out of the public eye since the revelations of the affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, but decided to keep this appointment.

     “It truly is a privilege to be here with you this evening -- all the more so given my personal journey over the past five months,” he said. “I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago … I'm also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing,” he said Tuesday night.

    “So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters,” he added.

    Petraeus then stressed that the evening was “not about me,” but the cadets, active duty military and veterans from USC and efforts to support them.

    Slideshow: Petraeus case: Cast of characters

    ISAF via Reuters file

    Meet the people who have been pulled into the scandal that caused Gen. David Petraeus to resign.

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    He said that the post 9/11 generation of veterans deserved to be known as America’s greatest generation. More could and should be done to help veterans, particularly those with physical injuries and mental health problems, he argued.

    'Instructive' to others who stumble
    The general said that hanging up the uniform and leaving comrades behind was difficult, and returned to the reasons for his departure at the end of his speech.

    “As I close, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you as well to those who provided words of encouragement to my family and me in recent months. That support meant a great deal as we sought to look forward rather than backward,” Petraeus said.

    “This has obviously been a very difficult episode for us. But perhaps my experience can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as far as I did. One learns, after all, that life doesn't stop with such a mistake. It can, and must, go on,” he said.

    “And the effort to move forward over the rocky path of one's making is vital, inescapable, and ultimately worth it,” he added. “I know that I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and a number of others. I can, however, try to move forward in a manner that is consistent with the values to which I subscribed before slipping my moorings, and as best possible to make amends to those I have hurt and let down, and that is what I will strive to do.”

    The discovery of Petraeus’ affair came after another woman, Florida socialite Jill Kelley, complained to the FBI that she was receiving harassing emails from Broadwell.

    The ensuing bureau investigation revealed a string of emails indicating an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell.

    In a letter to the CIA workforce announcing his decision to step down last fall, Petraeus acknowledged "extremely poor judgment" and said, "such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

    Days after the high-profile resignation, President Barack Obama announced there was no reason to believe the ex-CIA director compromised national security or divulged classified information to Broadwell, who had unprecedented access to the general while writing his biography.

    And supporters like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., maintained that the personal transgression should not have led to Petraeus' departure.

    With the former high-profile military leader's resignation came the end of a nearly four-decade career in the military and intelligence.

    As a commander in the U.S. Army, Petraeus was largely credited with salvaging the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and helping develop U.S. counterinsurgency strategy.

    He was one of the most popular military commanders in modern history, and was talk about as a future presidential candidate.

    Tuesday's speech may mark the beginning of attempts by the 60-year-old Petraeus to rebuild his image. His appearance in front of former and future members of the armed services made for a friendly audience.

    USC president C. L. Max Nikias praised Petraeus ahead of his appearance at the university. 

    “In our post 9/11 world, Gen. Petraeus’ influence on our military is unmatched, and his contributions to the CIA are far-reaching,” Nikias said.

    “Gen. Petraeus is arguably the most effective military commander since Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,” he added.

    NBC News' Denise Ono and Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

    Related:

    David Petraeus: Battlefield 'hero' and savvy Washington insider

    'I screwed up royally,' Petraeus writes to old Army chum

    Jill Kelley speaks out: 'I knew I was being stalked'

    This story was originally published on Wed Mar 27, 2013 1:25 AM EDT

  • Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Feinstein: 'We will need to talk to David Petraeus' about Benghazi

    Congressman Peter King, who serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, tells TODAY's Matt Lauer that the FBI had an "absolute obligation to tell the president" as soon as General Petraeus' name came up in the agency's investigation.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says she will seek testimony from former CIA Director David Petraeus, who resigned Friday as CIA director after acknowledging an extramarital affair, about the September attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.


    “I have no doubt now that we will need to talk with David Petraeus and we will likely do that in closed session. But it will be done one way or another,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell on Monday.

    Feinstein also she also may subpoena reports on a trip Petraeus took to Libya in the last year.

    “I believe that Director Petraeus made a trip to the region shortly before this (Petraeus affair) became public,” Feinstein said on "Andrea Mitchell Reports." “We have asked to see the trip report. One person tells me he’s read it, and then we try to get it and they tell me it hasn’t been done. That’s unacceptable.” 

    “It may have some very relevant information to what happened in Benghazi,” Feinstein said.

    A week and a half ago, Petraeus went to Tripoli and conducted a personal inquiry into the Benghazi attack, NBC News has confirmed.

    Petraeus has not commented on his trip to Benghazi last month.

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., tells NBC's Andrea Mitchell that "a decision was made somewhere not to brief" the Senate Intelligence Committee about on the Petraeus affair and compares the scandal to "peeling an onion," saying "every day another peel comes off," revealing "a new dimension"

    Petraeus revelation began as cyber-harassment probe

    Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in the Benghazi attack on Sept. 11-12.

    Petraeus, a decorated four-star general who received widespread praise for the surge strategy that helped stabilize the insurgency in Iraq, resigned as CIA director on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

    Numerous federal government officials have told NBC News that the married general had a relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, 40, who authored “All In,” a book about Petraeus’ education.

    Feinstein said she received no advance notice of Petraeus’ resignation or the affair.

    The affair came to light after an FBI investigation into harassing emails sent to a family friend of Petraeus, Jill Kelley, sources have told NBC News. The investigation traced the emails to Broadwell, who revealed the affair. Petraeus also admitted the affair.

    The FBI determined that no criminal charges would be filed as a result of the investigation.

    Lawmakers question timing of Petraeus resignation

    But now, Feinstein has linked the Petraeus affair with another controversy within the Obama administration – the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic mission in Libya.

    The Senate Intelligence committee planned to start closed-door hearings on the Benghazi attack on Thursday with further proceedings expected to follow. Petraeus had been expected to testify at the hearings before he resigned as CIA director.

    Republican lawmakers and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have criticized the administration’s evolving explanation of what triggered the Benghazi attack. Officials early on said it was a spontaneous reaction during a protest about an anti-Islamic film. Later, it was termed a planned terrorist attack.

    Questions have also been raised about whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department responded appropriately to requests for more protection.

    Feinstein also questioned Broadwell's role as Petraeus' biographer. 

    “It’s a rather confused situation because  at one point she was an Army reservist doing intelligence-related work, at the same time she was doing a journalist’s work, a biography on David Petraeus,” Feinstein said. “It seems to me these two things don’t go together, it seems to me someone who becomes active military should not be writing a book.”

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