General David Petraeus, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has resigned, according to Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, citing an extramarital affair.

Andrea Mitchell read from a letter sent to Petraeus staff: "To the team at the CIA headquarters, yesterday afternoon I went to the White House and asked the president to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as Director of CIA. After being married for more than 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband as a leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."

Mitchell says CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell is rumored as a successor to Petraeus.

Statement from Director of National Intelligencey James Clapper:



Director of National Intelligence James Clapper praised Petraues’ service Friday afternoon. “Since he took over as Director in September of last year, he and I have worked together to tackle some of the most challenging issues faced by the Intelligence Community in more than a decade,” Clapper said. “Under his leadership, the CIA remained instrumental in providing our policy makers decision advantage through the best possible intelligence. I’m particularly thankful for Dave’s unwavering support and personal commitment to my efforts to lead the Intelligence Community and integrate our intelligence enterprise.”

President Obama's statement:

