The dramatic resignation of CIA Director  David Petraeus on Friday threatens to  undermine next week’s hearings into the deadly attack at the U.S. Consulate in  Libya, at which he was scheduled to testify.

Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA  following revelations he had engaged in an extramarital affair and acknowledging  that he ‘showed extremely poor judgment’.

The highly-decorated general, 60, had  recently traveled to Libya and the Middle East, and was to testify about the  Benghazi attack next week behind closed doors to the House and Senate  intelligence committees.

Fears have also emerged as his resignation  comes at an extremely sensitive time. The administration and the CIA have  struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that  killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.

Bad timing: Petraeus’ resignation comes at a sensitive time; the CIA chief was slated to testify at the Benghazi hearings next week

It was an issue during the presidential  campaign that ended with Obama’s re-election Tuesday.

Petraeus had led the CIA for only 14 months.  His sudden departure threatened to usher in a period of instability at the spy  agency, which is grappling with a leveling off in its budget after a decade of  steady increases.

The agency is also fending off questions  about its performance before and after the attack that led to the death of U.S.  Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya.

U.S. officials insisted that the CIA’s  handling of the Benghazi incident had nothing to do with Petraeus’ decision to  resign.

The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for  providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points  that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a  militant terror attack.

It has become clear that the CIA was aware  the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the  Muslim world.

Morell rather than Petraeus now is expected  to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the Sept. 11 attacks  on the consulate in Benghazi.

According to the New York Times, Petraeus told the White House of the affair, only one  day after Obama secured a second term in the White House.

The president did not immediately accept it,  aides told the Times, and only reluctantly agreed to it on Friday.

News Corps’ Rupert Murdoch was one of masses  who took to Twitter to voice his opinion. The 81-year-old Aussie wrote: ‘Petraeus resignation. Timing, everything suspicious. There has to be more to  this story.’

Chiming in with her own conspiracy theory,  conservative talk show radio host Laura Ingraham wrote: ‘CIA Chief Petraus  resignation…something about this stinks to high heaven.’

She added: ‘COINCIDENCE?! Petraeus is set to  testify NEXT week at a closed door session on Capitol Hill about Benghazi. Did  BHO push him out? This stinks!’

But some, like Huffington Post founder  Arianna Huffington, reacted to the news in a very forgiving fashion. ‘Turns out  Petraeus is (sic) human being. And of course we definitely can’t have human  beings in government!’ she wrote.

1 COMMENT

  1. Why is he not getting the same benefits of Bill CLinton, he means much more to our country and history than Slick Willi

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