Paula Broadwell: David Petraeus Cabinet speculation 'a bit of a shocker'
Paula Broadwell said she was surprised to learn retired Gen. David Petraeus was under consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state.
Petraeus admitted to allowing Broadwell, who had an extramarital affair with the general while writing his biography, to see classified information. He pleaded guilty last year to "unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents," a misdemeanor, was fined $100,000 and is on probation.
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"As I woke up to the news, you know, it was a bit of a shocker that he was being considered for a Cabinet position and I was shocked that I'm still in this tenuous position," she told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell.
Broadwell said she was "happy because I think [Petraeus] should be able to go on with his life."
"He's earned it, and so should his family," she said. "But it begged the question of, 'Why shouldn't I be able to go on?'"
Broadwell, who was not criminally charged in the incident, was reprimanded by the military, demoted from her position as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves to a major and has struggled to move on with her career since the revelations of the affair in 2012 made her a household name.
Broadwell said she is awaiting her resignation to be approved by the Army, and in the meantime, has been blocked from new positions over the notoriety generated by the affair.
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"So I think I was qualified for this position. But I was told by the military recruiter that it would be front-page news if I got hired at the bank, and the bank wouldn't want to deal with that," Broadwell said of a job at a prominent bank she wanted to pursue.
"If the bank hired Paula Broadwell?" O'Donnell asked.
"Exactly. And I realized that's probably true, but it was hard to stomach at the time," Broadwell said. "I have a degree from the University of Denver in international conflict resolution. I have a degree from Harvard in public policy."
Broadwell said she is "very proud of" graduating from West Point and her military career.
"It's shaped me into a fighter, which is why I'm fighting to take back my own narrative and my life," she said. "But I also believe, on principle, I've got something to offer the world and I'm not a benchwarmer. That's not my personality. Put me in, coach."
Copyright 2016 U.S. News & World Report
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