CIA Chief Petraeus resigns due to extramarital affair

 

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Published: 10 November, 2012, 00:02

Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus (Reuters/Jason Reed)

CIA Director David Petraeus has announced he will resign from the Central Intelligence Agency.

Petraeus, age 60, released a statement on Friday obtained by CNN confirming that his resignation has already been accepted by US President Barack Obama, who nominated him to replace former CIA Chief Stanley McChrystal in June 2010.

According to the statement, Petraeus’ stepping down is due to personal reasons, namely an affair he now admits to having outside of his relationship with his wife.

“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment from engaging in an extramarital affair,”writes Petraeus. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”

Petraeus says he informed President Obama of his decision on Thursday and writes, “This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”