David Petraeus’ sex scandal: Powerful men and messy mistresses

David Petraeus' sex scandal: Powerful men and messy mistresses
David Petraeus and his mistress traded sexy e-mails that alerted CIA officials.

5. David Petraeus

The FBI ran across a sexual email exchange between former CIA chief David Petraeus and his mistress and that led to a swift admission of guilt and Patraeus’ resignation.


“Sex under the desk,” is the catchphrase that caught the attention of the FBI, who erroneously believed that the chief was using code words to describe corruption, according to sources familiar with the sex scandal. Instead, the FBI discovered some top secret sex texting. Worse, Patraeus’ alleged mistress, his ­biographer, Paula Broadwell, a 40-year-old mother of two, sparked the investigation when a second woman complained that Broadwell was sending threatening e-mails to her to steer clear of Petraeus.


On Nov. 9, Petraeus, a four-star general, confessed that he had an “extramarital affair” as he resigned as director of the CIA.

Petraeus is hardly the first powerful man to be sidelined by a sex scandal, here are just a few of the more prominent cases that have occurred within the past two years.


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