U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has decided not to impose further punishment on retired Gen. David Petraeus, the former military commander and CIA director who admitted sharing top secret information with his mistress.
The decision was revealed in a letter sent by Stephen Hedger, the assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, that was reviewed by Reuters. The decision is in line with an Army review.
The letter was addressed to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who had recently asked Mr. Carter not to take further action.
Mr. Carter had been considering a demotion for the disgraced general in an effort to crack down on misbehaving military commanders.
Gen. Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA in 2012 after it was revealed that he had divulged classified information to his biographer, Army Reserve officer Paula Broadwell. Court documents said that he had illegally given Ms. Broadwell access to official binders.
The binders contained highly classified information including the identities of covert officers, code word information, war strategy, intelligence capabilities, diplomatic talks and information from high-level White House National Security Council meetings.
He was sentenced to two years probation and fined $100,000 but did not receive a prison sentence.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.