Secretary Ashton Carter Not to Pursue Further Action Against Gen. David Petraeus

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has made a decision to take no further action taken against retired Gen. David Petraeus, CNN reported on Saturday.

In a letter sent to Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter announced revealed his much-awaited decision that could’ve sparked significant blowback.

Carter was weighing whether to demote Petraeus from a four-star general to a three-star, which would have affected his retirement salary. This decision now clears Petraeus to continue to receive his full retirement benefits.

A Defense Department official confirmed the letter’s authenticity to PPD but declined to further elaborate on the decision.

The review had centered on Petraeus’s acknowledgment in court proceedings that he provided classified material to author Paula Broadwell, with whom he then had a personal relationship. Broadwell, too, had a security clearance. As a retired four-star general, Petraeus remains liable for any wrongdoing he committed while on active duty.

Petraeus, the hero of the Iraq War and chief man in charge of implementing the surge, has been compared to the current situation with Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, however, is accused of having kept far more sensitive information on her private, insecure home-brew server that she used to conduct official State Department business.

The FBI is currently investigating Mrs. Clinton’s email practices and recently expanded their digging into “public corruption” regarding the Clinton Foundation.