No special treatment for David Petraeus in leaks
IF GENERAL David Petraeus isn’t charged for what appears to be a clear-cut case of leaking highly classified information, how can the Obama administration justify its continued vendetta against much lower-level leakers? It would deeply undermine trust in prosecutorial fairness if Petraeus, a retired four-star general and former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, escapes consequences simply because he’s prominent and well-connected; if anything, a man who led the CIA should be held to a much higher standard. The best outcome would be for federal prosecutors to step back from their hardline approach to national security cases — whether the leaker is famous or not.
Petraeus’s leaks began in 2011, after he became CIA director. His motives for violating the law were hardly public-spirited: he gave information to his mistress, Paula Broadwell, who was writing a fawning book about him. The leaks reportedly included the password to his CIA email account. That’s a stunningly irresponsible action by a senior official that would normally enrage lawmakers. But Petraeus enjoys cult-hero status inside the Beltway, and his defenders are pressing Attorney General Eric Holderto let him off the hook. “He’s lost his job,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein, referring to his 2012 resignation from the CIA. “I mean, how much does government want?”
Here is a candidate for Nobel Prize in Chutzpah: Your wife and mistress and in the same row at your CIA director appointment, and neither the wife nor CIA knows; only Petraeus and the mistress
Contrast his treatment with that of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officercurrently on trial for supposedly leaking information to New York Times reporter James Risen. In his case, the government wants him to spend decades in prison. Unlike Petraeus’s leaks, though, Sterling’s served the public interest by bringing to light a CIA operation against Iran’s nuclear program that may have backfired by providing the Iranians information about nuclear weapons, calling into question whether the agency is doing its job. Similar to Petraeus’s, Sterling’s leaks did not endanger lives or result in any demonstrable damage to national security.
The Petraeus investigation appears to be nearing an end, and the New York Times reported on Friday that the FBI has recommended felony charges. Following that recommendation would, at least, be consistent with the Obama administration’s overzealous treatment of other leakers. But the best solution would be to drop both cases, and to adopt a more commonsense policy toward national security prosecutions. And if the administration won’t change its ways, the senators who have been so quick to rush to Petraeus’s defense ought to take up the cause — for everyone.