The U.S. Defense Department is conducting a leaks investigation related to the sex scandal that led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus, Associated Press reported on Monday, the same day Petraeus met with President-elect Donald Trump in New York.
A U.S. official told the AP that investigators were trying to determine who had leaked personal information about Paula Broadwell, the woman whose affair with Petraeus led to criminal charges against him and his resignation. The information concerned the status of her security clearance, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The ex-CIA director was also involved in a propaganda scheme that surfaced last month. In a report published in October, it was revealed that the Pentagon paid a PR firm 540 million dollars for fake Al-Qaeda videos. These videos were used to track possible al-Qaeda sympathizers and anyone watching them via spy software. The output of the firm was also signed off by Petraeus, the then-commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq and who would later on become the director of the CIA.
Petraeus is also a prominent figure for Turkey in its relationship with the United States. Petraeus is known for his role in the 2003 "Hood Incident" that took place in the town of Sulaymaniyah in Northern Iraq. There, U.S. soldiers from Petraeus's air brigade detained Turkish soldiers and put their heads into sacks during their detention. Turkish special forces were humiliated and photos of them with sacks on their heads were leaked to the press. The incident sparked a crisis in bilateral relations between the two countries, with the U.S. apologizing to Turkey later on.
