On NBC's Meet The Press, Vice President-elect Mike Pence told host Chuck Todd that Gen. Petraeus only mishandled "classified information" and it's up to Trump to decide if that's disqualifying or whether he should get the job of Secretary of State.
Apparently needing permission from the general's parole officer isn't a sticking point to become the SOS.
Gov. Pence's job this morning seemed to be to rewrite Gen. Petraeus's near treasonous actions as nothing more than a man who happened to misplace some (classified) documents around the office. No big deal.
Chuck Todd asked, "Given how high profile the email situation was and the classified issue was for Secretary Clinton during the presidential campaign, how significant is the conviction against General Petraeus in your thinking and the president-elect's thinking when it comes to Secretary of State?"
Gov. Pence first told Todd that Gen. Petraeus is an American hero, "and he paid a price."
Chuck replied, "Did he deserve to pay a price?"
Pence said, "Oh, he paid a price for mishandling classified information."
Chuck asked, "But you don't think that disqualifies him to be Secretary of State?
Pence then said, "Well, I think that will be up to the president-elect."
Let's get some facts into evidence, Gov. Pence, since Chuck Todd doesn't think it's his job to do it:
Gen. Petraeus cut a plea deal for the lesser charge of mishandling classified information, avoiding felony charges and jail time. Be real: he got off lightly.
He DID NOT 'pay a price" for his actions.
I wish Chuck Todd had taken a minute to explain what Gen. Petraeus was guilty of.
General Petraeus' actions ended up with him resigning from the CIA.
The plea follows a high-profile investigation and prosecution that triggered Petraeus’s resignation from the CIA in 2012. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, he admitted that he improperly removed and retained highly sensitive information in eight personal notebooks that he gave the biographer, Paula Broadwell, to read.
Broadwell was his mistress in addition to his biographer. So not only did he pass on government secrets to a honey trap, Gen. Petraeus then lied to the FBI about it.
When FBI agents confronted him in his CIA office in October 2012, Petraeus said he had never provided classified information to Broadwell, prosecutors said.Making a false statement to a federal law enforcement agent during an investigation is a felony, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. On Thursday, Keesler told Petraeus that he had been “untruthful” and that his behavior “constituted a serious lapse of judgment.”
During the election, Rudy Giuliani worked with many FBI agents to undermine our election process, including James Comey. He constantly told Fox News how outraged the FBI was over HRC's private email server. He's been very quiet about Petraeus, though.
How did the FBI agents who investigated the Petraeus feel about the plea deal?
The deal angered FBI agents who worked on the lengthy investigation and who thought Petraeus should have been treated more harshly because of the information in the notebooks and what they considered his lack of candor.
During the campaign, a big talking point for the Trump camp was that Hillary's use of a private email server was much worse than a distinguished general who -- while committing adultery -- knowingly passed on U.S. classified information to his mistress for what amounted to a few booty calls.
That was nonsense, but the election is over.
How can Donald Trump claim Gen. Petraeus can be trusted with our secrets if he is nominated to become the new SOS? Will the Republican majority agree with him, despite this outrageous violation?
How does a man convicted of his crimes get clearance by the FBI?
I'm sure Vladimir Putin and many other hostile governments have a bevy of beauties lined up to tempt Petraeus once more.
