November 12th, 2012

Former Broadwell boss, Petraeus acquaintance: “He let his guard down”

Retired General James “Spider” Marks says former CIA Director David Petraeus resigned because he “lost his foundation” after having an affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, not because there was an intelligence risk.

Marks says, “Her ability to get into his inner circle was probably not suprising. Clearly, she’s a very bright – she worked for me, as you know – she’s an incredibly talented, very bright, creative, immensely fit, and let’s be frank, very attractive young lady, yet a wonderful officer. The point is, she’s a quintessential professional.”

He adds, “On the professional level… there’s absolutely almost zero percent chance that national security was compromised or was at risk.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9a ET on CNN.