Petraeus' Ex-Lover Blasts Double Standard in Fallout

'Why shouldn't I be able to go on?' Paula Broadwell wonders
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2016 8:47 AM CST
Petraeus' Lover Blasts Double Standard in Fallout
This 2011 file photo shows David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell.   (AP Photo/ISAF, File)

Paula Broadwell is in the same camp as Edward Snowden in that she was shocked to hear David Petraeus is in the running for secretary of state under Donald Trump after pleading guilty to mishandling classified data. That's not to say she doesn't approve. "I think he should be able to go on with his life," she tells CBS News, but "why shouldn't I be able to go on?" After leaking classified information to Broadwell—who was his biographer and with whom he had an affair—Petraeus got two years' probation and a $100,000 fine. He faced no disciplinary action from the military and is now a White House adviser. Broadwell, an Army intelligence officer, was demoted, lost her top-secret security clearance, and received a formal reproof.

At the Huffington Post, Emily Peck notes that, from the start, Broadwell was painted as "a 'mistress' … accused of bringing a man down and destroying his career" in a "sexist double standard." She's still waiting to hear if the Army will deliver additional punishments and accept her resignation, but she says she's since been denied a position with a major bank. "I was told by the military recruiter that it would be front-page news if I got hired at the bank, and the bank wouldn’t want to deal with that," Broadwell says, describing her situation as a "potential cancer hanging over my head," per the Post. Adds Sen. Claire McCaskill, per the Hill: "I think the two of them should be treated fairly, and there shouldn't be two standards." (Petraeus says he's learned from his mistake.)

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