In a letter to a retired U.S. army general, former CIA director David Petraeus said "I screwed up royally" referring to the extramarital affair that caused the general's resignation.
"I screwed up royally. I paid the price (appropriately) and I sought to do the right thing, at the end of the day...Team Petraeus will survive though have obviously created enormous difficulty for us. Holly is however once again demonstrating how incredibly fortunate I was to marry her," said Petraeus to General James Shelton as reported by NBC News.
Earlier this month, Petraeus submitted his resignation to President Barrack Obama on Friday citing an extramarital affair as the cause for stepping down. We now know that the woman has been identified as Paula Broadwell, his biographer.
According to the New York Times, Petraeus said in his statement, "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair...Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."
Petraeus was appointed Director of CIA in September of 2011. Prior to this, the 60-year-old served as a four star general in the U.S. Army. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Deputy Director of CIA, Michael J. Morell, will fill in the position.
"By any measure, through his lifetime of service, David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger," said President Obama in a statement released upon Patraeus' resignation, adding "Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time," as reported by The New York Times.
Holly Petraeus is the assistant director of the Office of Service member Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
