WASHINGTON — Former CIA director David Petraeus has reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department, concluding a years-long investigation into his divulging to his mistress secret information, including names of covert officers and war strategy, according to court documents.
The brief criminal information filed in federal court in North Carolina states that between August 2011 and April 5, 2013, Petraeus did "unlawfully and knowingly'' remove classified materials and retained them at "unauthorized'' locations.
In court documents filed in support of the government's case, prosecutors alleged that Petraeus, while commander in Afghanistan, maintained eight so-called ''black books'' that contained classified and unclassified notes he took during meetings, conferences and briefings. And in late August 2011, he delivered the books to private Washington, D.C., residence where his biographer and mistress was staying during a week-long trip to the area.
"The D.C. private residence was not approved for the storage of classified information,'' the documents state.
Among the mass of sensitive information contained in the books were the "identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions…and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings, and discussions with the president of the United States.''
However, none of the classified information in the "black books" appeared in Petraeus' biography, the court documents say.
An attorney for Petraeus, Robert Barnett, declined to comment on the plea deal.
Both Petraeus and Broadwell declined to comment to Military Times about the plea agreement.
A statement from the Justice Department added: "Three documents — a criminal Information, a plea agreement, and a statement of facts — were filed today in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina's Charlotte Division in the case of United States v. David Howell Petraeus. The criminal Information charges the defendant with one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1924. The plea agreement and corresponding statement of facts, both signed by the defendant, indicate that he will plead guilty to the one-count criminal Information."
Petraeus resigned in 2012 as CIA director after news of his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became known. She had been identified as the source of harassing emails to Jill Kelley, a Tampa socialite and friend of Petraeus.
Petraeus was the most lauded general in the post-9/11 era, having devised the counterinsurgency strategy that tamped down violence in Iraq but did not result in creating the conditions he deemed necessary to build an inclusive government. U.S. troops withdrew in 2011, but now 3,000 have returned to advise Iraqi forces battling Islamic State extremists.
Petraeus went on to lead Central Command, which oversees military operations stretching from the Middle East to Afghanistan. President Obama chose him to command of all forces in Afghanistan after Gen. Stanley McChrystal was fired in 2010 after his staff was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine making disparaging remarks about politicians, including Vice President Joe Biden.
It was in Afghanistan that Broadwell, an Army intelligence officer, met and traveled with Petraeus several times for research on her book, All In, the Education of David Petraeus.In 2011, Obama named Petraeus to lead the CIA.
Petraeus, who holds a doctorate from Princeton, has been teaching and advising a venture capital firm in New York.
Military Times staff writer Jeffrey Schogol contributed.
