Obama responds warily to sex scandal, FBI probe - Wisconsin Rapids Tribune

WASHINGTON Responding warily to his administrations sudden sex scandal, President Barack Obama said today hes seen no evidence that national security was damaged by the revelations that ended his CIA directors career and imperil that of his Afghan war commander.

But the president said he is reserving judgment about how the FBI has handled the investigation that began in the summer but didnt reach his desk until after last weeks election.

I have a lot of confidence, generally, in the FBI, Obama said, qualifying his words of support for the agency and its actions in the case.

As Obama spoke about the scandal from the White House, legislators on Capitol Hill were grilling FBI and CIA officials privately about the same issues: whether national security was jeopardized by the case and why they didnt know about the investigation sooner.

I have no evidence at this point, from what Ive seen, that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security, Obama said at his first postelection news conference.

As for the FBIs handling of the matter, Obama said: My expectation is that they follow the protocols that theyve already established. One of the challenges here is that were not supposed to meddle in criminal investigations, and thats been our practice.

Federal law enforcement officials have said the FBI didnt inform the White House and Congress sooner about the original investigation because of rules set up after the Watergate scandal to prevent interference in criminal investigations, and that lawmakers werent given notice of potential national security problems because the bureau had quickly resolved them.

CIA Director David Petraeus resigned Friday, two days after the White House was notified that hed acknowledged having an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

The FBIs investigation of the matter began last summer, after Broadwell allegedly sent harassing, anonymous emails to a woman she apparently saw as a rival for Petraeus affections. That woman, Florida socialite Jill Kelley, in turn had traded sometimes-flirtatious messages with the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen.