Donald Trump Is Considering David Petraeus, Who Shared Classified Emails With His Mistress, For Secretary Of State
Donald Trump is reportedly considering David Petraeus, the disgraced former General who leaked classified information (including emails) to his mistress, for secretary of state, USA Today is reporting.
Trump and Petraeus are scheduled to meet Monday at Trump’s residence in New York, sources close to Trump told ABC News. Petraeus has already vowed that he’ll accept any position offered to him by the Trump administration.
Sources: Patraeus For Sec. Of State https://t.co/tem4xn6OfI
— Except News (@Except_News) November 25, 2016
“The only response can be: ‘Yes, Mr. President.'”
If Petraeus is appointed as secretary of state, he would bring a lifetime of military and political experience to the Trump administration. The 64-year-old commanded U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and is credited with helping decrease violence in Iraq by overseeing a “troop surge” during the later years of the war. His diplomatic resume also includes a stint as the director of the CIA from 2011 to 2012.
Unfortunately for Trump, Petraeus also brings an immense amount of baggage to the administration. In March of 2015, Petraeus pleaded guilty to sharing classified information with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an extra-marital affair. Incidentally, illegally storing and sharing classified information is the very same crime for which Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton “belongs in jail.”
Donald Trump backs away from his threat to throw Hillary Clinton in jail https://t.co/kczlRqeRez pic.twitter.com/vbi6Nk0h5H
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) November 22, 2016
Back in 2011, as he was being interviewed by biographer Paula Broadwell, Petraeus delivered eight books to Broadwell containing both classified and non-classified information. Some of that classified information included “secret code words, the names of covert operatives, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, and discussions at the highest levels of the national security establishment, including the president.” He even admitted to Broadwell, on tape, that he knew the information was classified.
“Um, well, they’re really — I mean they are highly classified, some of them.”
Further, Petraeus admitted to having lied about both the affair and the exchange of classified information when questioned about it by the FBI.
He was ultimately fined $100,000 and placed on probation for his crimes.
For Trump, filling the role of secretary of state has proven more difficult than he likely anticipated. According to Politico, former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican nominee for president Mitt Romney, was being considered for the job. However, Romney had famously distanced himself Trump during the campaign, even going so far as to say that he wouldn’t vote for Trump.
That hasn’t sat well with Trump’s inner circle, and several prominent Republicans have told Trump to look elsewhere for a secretary of state. Mike Huckabee, for example, told Fox News that Romney had gone after Trump’s “honor.”
“It’s not about that I don’t care for Mitt personally, but I’m still very unhappy that Mitt did everything he could to derail Donald Trump. He didn’t just go after him from a standpoint of saying I disagree with his policy on immigration or I disagree with his policy on taxes. He attacked him on a personal level about his character, integrity, his honor.”
Another name being considered for the secretary of state job is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It’s a job for which Giuliani has lobbied, according to the New York Times.
“I have friends all over the world. This is not a new thing for me. When you become the mayor, you become interested in foreign policy. When I left, my major work was legal and security around the world.”
Meanwhile, a poll on conservative news site Breitbart puts Giuliani in the lead among readers, with almost 38 percent of the vote as of this writing. David Petraeus is getting just over 19 percent of the vote.
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
