Petraeus Resignation Timeline - From CIA Director's First Meeting with Paula Broadwell Through Today

The following timeline of events leading up to the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus and the subsequent revelations about his extramarital affair is based on reports from various media outlets and will be updated as new information comes to light.

Spring 2006:

• Paula Broadwell meets David Petraeus at a Harvard University function (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).

2008:

• Broadwell decides to pursue a doctorate in public policy and conduct a case study on Petraeus' leadership. Petraeus invites her to go on a run in Washington, D.C. (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).

2010:

• Petraeus is put in charge of the war in Afghanistan and Broadwell would visit and observe him in Afghanistan (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).

June 30, 2011:

• Senate confirms appointment of Petraeus as CIA director (Reuters).

August 31, 2011:

• Petraeus retires after 37 years in the U.S. Army (ABC).

Summer 2011:

• White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan reportedly became aware of a relationship between Petraeus and Broadwell, according to Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin and Adam Housley (Fox, Nov. 12).

Sept. 6, 2011:

• Petreaus sworn in as CIA director (CIA)

• At some point after taking office, Broadwell broke off affair but Petraeus continued to pursue her “sending thousands of emails over the last several months, raising even more questions about his judgment,” according to Newsmax chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler (Newsmax, Nov. 9).

2011-2012:

• Broadwell and Petraeus extramarital affair started after he left military service and ended about four months ago. (Reuters, Nov. 11).

• Sometime within the past four or five months - one official said "early summer" - a woman complained to the FBI about harassing emails that were later determined to have been written by Broadwell. In the course of investigating that complaint, the FBI discovered an affair between Broadwell and Petraeus (Reuters, Nov. 11).

January 2012:

• Biography of Petraeus co-authored by Broadwell, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus," is published (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).

Spring 2012:

• FBI starts investigation, intercepting Petraeus’ emails and reviewing older emails going back to his time in Afghanistan, where he was commander of U.S. Forces from July 2010 to July 2011 (Newsmax, Nov. 9).

Week of October 21:

• Federal investigators interview Broadwell. (Reuters, Nov. 11).

Oct. 26:

• Broadwell delivers speech at University of Denver, discussing details about how Petraeus handled the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and revealing possibly classified information about alleged Libyan militia members being held prisoner at that consulate and that situation may have been a potential catalyst for the attack (Fox News, Nov. 12).

• Glenn Beck predicts that David Petraeus would take the blame on Libya: “Who have they tried to sell down the river every step of the way? The intelligence,” Glenn said. “You watch. Petraeus is going to be the fall guy. They’re going to have him step down.  They’re going to point all fingers to him.” (TheBlaze TV, Oct. 26)

Week of October 28:

• Federal investigators interview Petraeus. Prosecutors conclude afterward they likely will not bring criminal charges. (Reuters, Nov. 11)

Oct. 31:

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office contacts FBI to inform them about information from an FBI whistle blower who told Cantor (R-Va.) in late October that Petraeus had been involved in an extramarital affair and was potentially putting national security at risk (New York Times, Nov. 10, 2012).

Nov. 6 (Election Day):

• At about 5 p.m.: the FBI notifies Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who oversees the CIA and other intelligence agencies, about Petraeus. Clapper speaks to Petraeus that evening and again Wednesday and advises him to step down (Reuters, Nov. 11).

Nov. 7:

• Clapper informs White House National Security Council official that Petraeus may resign and President Barack Obama should be informed. The president is told about it later that day (Reuters, Nov. 11).

Nov. 8:

• At 11 a.m. a Petraeus meeting with foreign dignitaries scheduled for 2:30 p.m. is canceled and his visitors are informed he has to go to the White House to meet with Obama. Petraeus meets with Obama at the White House and offers his resignation, explaining the circumstances behind it. Obama did not immediately accept the resignation (Reuters, Nov. 11).

Nov. 9:

• In a statement to CIA employees Friday, Petraeus said he submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama on Thursday and Obama accepted it Friday afternoon (CIA).

• Fox News reported the affair was with his biographer and was discovered during the course of an FBI investigation on an “unrelated and much broader case.” According to Fox, journalist and biographer Paula Broadwell’s name came up during the investigation, which led to uncovering the affair (Fox News, Nov. 9).

• Fox News analyst Ralph Peters, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, speculates that Obama administration knew of the affair and waited for the right moment to “play the card” (Fox News, Nov. 9)

Nov. 11:

• A senior U.S. military official says Broadwell sent harassing emails to a woman who was the State Department’s liaison to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, says 37-year-old Jill Kelley in Tampa, Fla., received the emails from Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell that triggered an FBI investigation. (TheBlaze/AP).