Trump should consider pardoning ex-CIA boss Petraeus, senator says

Dec. 18, 2013: Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and other Republicans walk to a closed-door GOP meeting before the Senate moves to pass a modest, bipartisan budget bill, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP)

After recently granting a pardon and considering at least two more, President Donald Trump should also consider pardoning former CIA director and U.S. Army general David Petraeus, a U.S. senator said.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, made the suggestion Thursday morning during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, the Washington Examiner reported.

While in the Army, Petraeus oversaw coalition forces during the Iraq War before moving to the CIA under the Obama administration.

But his time at the CIA was short-lived. A 2012 FBI investigation unearthed emails between Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an affair.

Petraeus pleaded guilty in 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of handling classified information, which he gave to Broadwell in eight notebooks.

"I think Gen. Petraeus is an incredible patriot, and helped guide our country during a very difficult time in Iraq and basically pulled a rabbit out of a hat there. But he made a terrible mistake," Cornyn said on Hewitt’s show. "What I respect about Gen. Petraeus is he admitted it candidly and publicly, and took responsibility for it. You don’t see that much in Washington.”

"I think Gen. Petraeus is an incredible patriot, and helped guide our country during a very difficult time in Iraq ... But he made a terrible mistake. What I respect about Gen. Petraeus is he admitted it candidly and publicly, and took responsibility for it."

— U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas

President Trump had once considered Petraeus to be his secretary of state. But that title ultimately went to Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon-Mobil CEO who has since resigned.

The prospect of pardoning Petraeus comes shortly after Trump pardoned conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions in the 2012 Senate race.

Trump is also reportedly considering pardons for TV personality Martha Stewart and former Illinois Gov. Rob Blagojevich, Politico reported.

The president also recently commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, 62, who had served more than 20 years of a life sentence without parole for a nonviolent drug offense, the report said.