Why can’t/won’t Petraeus testify?

[Wehrwolfen]

Why can’t/won’t Petraeus testify?​

November 09, 2012
by chessplayer

Duane, what puzzles me is why Petraeus’ resignation disqualifies him from testifying at all. I’m not the only one puzzled, either. NRO’s Katrina Trinko can’t figure it out:

Perhaps there is some protocol I’m unaware of, but I don’t see why resigning should affect whether Petraeus testifies or not. He was in charge of the CIA when the Benghazi attack occurred, and the CIA has been under plenty of fire for how the attack was handled.

Neither can John Hinderaker:

This gets curiouser: Petraeus was scheduled to testify before a Congressional committee on Benghazi next week, but in view of his resignation his testimony has been canceled. That makes no sense to me. Why should his resignation have anything to do with testifying about events that occurred while he was the director of the agency?

The only explanation I can conceive is that Petraeus doesn’t really have any information to tell Congress that relates to his own personal actions relating to the Benghazi attack.


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Read more:
Why can’t/won’t Petraeus testify? « The Greenroom

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says ya gotta watch dem womens - dey'll get ya in trouble ever' time...

Senate Intelligence Chairwoman calls Petraeus' resignation 'tragic'
November 9th, 2012 Washington (CNN) - Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN CIA Director David Petraeus' resignation is "tragic for this human being" and for the country. "He loved the job, had a big design for the job," she said.

Feinstein also made the point that "people are going to say he's a scapegoat for Benghazi and that's absolutely false," referring to the controversy over the timeline of the terror attack at the U.S. mission in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. "I know what the personal story is. It is not a cover up." While she refused to elaborate on the details surrounding Petraeus' sudden departure, she told CNN "I deeply believe, based on what I know, that it was an egregious personal mistake."

In a press release, Feinstein also added that "I wish President Obama had not accepted his resignation, but I understand and respect the decision." In the interview with CNN, she declined to speculate about any possible replacement candidates. What puzzles Feinstein, and others, is the sudden timing of the resignation. Hearings on Capitol Hill regarding Benghazi are still scheduled for next week, and Acting CIA Director Michael Morell will testify in his place. "What I don't understand is the immediate departure," she said. "That's the part I don't get." Feinstein added she still intends to hold the hearing starting next Thursday to figure out "who did what and when – and what was missing?"

On a more personal level regarding Petraeus, who is a retired four star general, Feinstein theorized that "the transition to civilian life, whether you are a private or a four-star is really hard. Everything changes when you take off the medals." She added "You're not accustomed to being questioned constantly, people are giving you a lot of flak." That was the case with Petraeus and the Benghazi controversy to be sure – although Petraeus himself worked very hard to maintain a low-key profile. That ended Friday.

Source

See also:

Lindsey Graham: We Need Watergate-Type Committee to Investigate Benghazi; Petraeus Must Testify
November 11, 2012 - Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that Congress should form a new special committee, like it did during the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals, to investigate what happened before, during and after the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Graham also insisted that Gen David Petraeus, who resigned this week because he had been engaged in an extramarital affair, must testify in Congress about Benghazi. Graham was responding to a question from host Bob Schieffer of CBS News’s Face the Nation who had asked the senator whether Congress should investigate Petraeus’s affair and how it was handled by the administration. “Well, if there is no affect of the affair on national security, I think we need to move on,” said Graham. “But at the end of the day the one thing that has to happen in my view is we have to get to the bottom of Benghazi. I hate what happened to Gen. Petraeus for his family and the families of those involved. But we have four dead Americans in Benghazi. We have a national security failure long in the making.

“I don’t see how in the world you can find out what happened in Benghazi before during and after the attack if Gen. Petraeus doesn’t testify,” said Graham. “So, from my point of view, it is absolutely essential that he give testimony before the Congress so we can figure out Benghazi.

“And from the Congress’s point of view, instead of doing this in a stove pipe way, you have got the Department of Defense that needs to explain themselves, the intelligence community, God knows the State Department needs to answer for their behavior regarding Benghazi,” said Graham. “I would suggest that we have a joint select committee of House and Senate members and we do this together—not have three different committees going off in three different directions—so we can get to the bottom of it like we did in Watergate and Iran Contra. I think that would be smart for the Congress to combine resources.”

In 1973, after President Richard Nixon had been reelected in 1972, the Senate formed a special committee chaired by Democratic Sen. Sam Ervin of North Carolina to investigate the break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate in Washington, D.C. In 1987, during the Iran-Contra scandal, the House and Senate formed a joint committee to investigate the Reagan administration’s covert arm sales to Iran. President Nixon eventually resigned over the Watergate scandal. Presidents Nixon and Reagan were both Republicans.

Source

 

[Lakhota]

Why can’t/won’t Petraeus testify?

Because he planned the Benghazi attack?