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US prosecutors recommend felony charges against ex-CIA chief
The Justice Department investigation was over an affair Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer and focused on whether he gave her access to his CIA email account and other highly classified information.
US prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against ex-CIA director David H. Petraeus for providing classified information to his former mistress, the New York Times reported on Friday.
The paper cited officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The prosecutors left it to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the retired four-star general to prison.
The Justice Department investigation was over an affair Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer and focused on whether he gave her access to his CIA email account and other highly classified information.
FBI agents discovered classified documents on her computer after Petraeus resigned from the CIA in 2012 when the affair became public.
The recommendations to press criminal charges from the FBI and US Justice Department would leave Holder with a decision on whether to seek an indictment, which could see the former CIA chief jailed if found guilty.
Petraeus, who served as commander of US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, denied the charges and has so far indicated that he has no interest in a plea deal that would spare him an embarrassing trial, NYT reported.
The affair reportedly began in 2011, while Broadwell was working on a biography of the CIA chief.
Petraeus resigned from the CIA on November 10, 2012, admitting to the affair and saying he "showed extremely poor judgment."
