David Petraeus: Michael Morell, the 'career spook' replacing him "We end up having bits of information that have a multitude of possible explanations," he told the Journal. You've got to be really humble about the business we're in. Mr Morell has been in the top job once before, running the CIA as an interim director for two months in 2011 while Gen Petraeus was preparing to take command. The two men worked together closely, with the spy guiding the former Army commander in intelligence affairs, urging him not to pull rank and to make a point of mixing with staff at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia. But despite the enormous respect for him in Washington, and the longing for stability at the CIA after going through five leaders since 9/11, Mr Morell is likely to again hand over the director's office within months. Directors of the CIA are usually appointed from outside of the agency and other possible contenders include John Brennan, a former spy who is now Mr Obama's counterterrorism adviser, and Jane Harman, a former Democrat congresswoman with close links to the agency.