Officials recommend prosecution for former CIA director Petraeus

WASHINGTON – Federal law enforcement officials have recommended prosecuting retired Army Gen. David Petraeus for sharing classified information with a woman with whom he was having an affair while he was serving as CIA director, according to two officials familiar with the situation.

The recommendation leaves Attorney General Eric Holder to make the final decision on whether to file felony charges against the former general.

It’s not uncommon for top Justice Department officials to reject recommendations for prosecution.

Petraeus stepped down in November 2012 as head of the CIA after his affair with an Army reserve officer who was writing his biography became public. He allegedly gave the woman, Paula Broadwell, access to his CIA email account and provided her other confidential information.

Until his resignation, Petraeus was seen as a leading political light both at the Pentagon and the CIA. He was widely lauded as the general who conceived and executed the surge strategy in Iraq in the final two years of the George W. Bush administration.

Although he admitted the affair and said he had shown “extremely poor judgment,” Petraeus insisted he never gave Broadwell classified material. FBI agents, however, later reportedly found classified material on her computer at her home in North Carolina.

“A recommendation to prosecute has been made,” said one U.S. official, asking not to be identified because the investigation is continuing. “The evidence was gathered in the Charlotte, N.C., area, and Washington was aware of it.”

Steve Boylan, a spokesman for Petraeus, said the general had no comment.