Petraeus to testify before Congress on Benghazi attack

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This Feb. 2, 2012 file photo shows CIA Director David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. Petraeus has resigned because of an extramarital affair. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
**FILE** Gen. John Allen (left), and Army Gen. David Petraeus (center), top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and incoming CIA Director, greet former CIA Director and new U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as he lands in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 9, 2011. (Associated Press)
**FILE** FBI Director Robert Mueller confers with an aide on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 16, 2012, prior to testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation." (Associated Press)
Attorney General Eric Holder speaks Nov. 13, 2012, in Des Moines, Iowa, during the investiture of Stephanie Rose, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. (Associated Press)
**FILE** Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, listens during a March 26, 2012, news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. (Associated Press)
FBI agents carry boxes and a computer from the home of Paula Broadwell, the woman whose affair with retired Gen. David Petraeus led to his resignation as CIA director, in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Paula Broadwell holds a drink in the kitchen of her brother's house in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Broadwell is CIA Director David Petraeus' biographer, with whom he had an affair that led to his abrupt resignation last Friday. It was Broadwell's threatening emails to Jill Kelley, a Florida woman who is a Petraeus family friend, that led to the FBI's discovery of communications between Broadwell and Petraeus indicating they were having an affair. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Jill Kelley leaves her home Tuesday, Nov 13, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. Kelley is identified as the woman who allegedly received harassing emails from Gen. David Petraeus' paramour, Paula Broadwell. She serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where the military's Central Command and Special Operations Command are located. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

By Kristina Wong

The Washington Times

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Follow @kristina_wong

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Former CIA Director David H. Petraeus has agreed to testify before Congress about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Mr. Petraeus will testify before the House Select Intelligence Committee on Friday about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The hearing will be closed to the public, according to a news release by the panel.

Mr. Petraeus had cancelled his scheduled appearance before the Senate panel on Thursday after he resigned as CIA director on Friday amid revelations he had an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

Lawmakers will focus what the CIA knew before, during and after the Benghazi attack, and whether its account differs from that of the White House.

However, they also are likely to ask about his affair, whether it compromised national security and whether he disclosed any classified information to Mrs. Broadwell.

During an Oct. 26 speech at the University of Colorado, Mrs. Broadwell talked about the Benghazi attack and suggested it was an attempt to free militants being held in the CIA's annex building. U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack.

The FBI also found classified material on Mrs. Broadwell's computer, but she has said she did not receive it from Mr. Petraeus.

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Kristina Wong
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Kristina Wong is a national security reporter for The Washington Times, covering defense, foreign policy and intelligence affairs. She can be reached at kwong@washingtontimes.com.