Morell to testify on Benghazi

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus came less than a week before he was scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

( Also on POLITICO: Citing affair, Petraeus resigns)


A spokesman for the committee said acting CIA Director Mike Morell would testify Thursday in place of Petraeus, who resigned Friday after admitting to an extramarital affair.

Petraeus was among a host of intelligence officials who were on tap to appear at the closed hearing, including James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, and Matthew Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. The hearing is the second to be held by the Senate panel on the attacks that killed Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three diplomatic aides.

( PHOTOS: Gen. Petraeus’s career)

Petraeus has won plaudits from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill, sailing through Senate confirmation on a 94-0 vote in June 2011. Top lawmakers expressed regret at Petraeus’s resignation in statements Friday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, said she wished President Barack Obama hadn’t accepted Petraeus’s resignation, but she understood the decision.

( Also on POLITICO: Full text of Petraeus resignation letter)

“At CIA, Director Petraeus gave the agency leadership, stature, prestige and credibility both at home and abroad,” Feinstein said in a statement. “On a personal level, I found his command of intelligence issues second to none.”

Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, also praised Petraeus in a statement Friday.

“Gen. David Petraeus will stand in the ranks of America’s greatest military heroes,” McCain said. “His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible — after years of failure — for the success of the surge in Iraq. Gen. Petraeus has devoted his life to serving the country he loves, and America is so much the better for it. We are immensely grateful for Gen. Petraeus’s decades of work on behalf of our nation, our military and our security. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”