text: Mr. Holder has said little publicly about the investigation. The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, asked by reporters in December why it was taking so long, said: “I can’t say. I mean, I guess I could say, but I won’t say.” 
   
   Marc Raimondi, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment on the investigation. 
   
   At a news conference shortly after Mr. Petraeus resigned, President Obama said he had no evidence that Mr. Petraeus had disclosed classified information “that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security.” 
   
   “We are safer because of the work that Dave Petraeus has done,” Mr. Obama said, referring to his career in government. “And my main hope right now is — is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career.” 
   
   But investigators concluded that, whether or not the disclosure harmed national security, it amounted to a significant security breach in the office of one of the nation’s most trusted intelligence leaders. They recommended that Mr. Petraeus face charges, saying lower-ranking officials had been prosecuted for far less. 
   
   Federal agents stumbled onto the affair after Jill Kelley, a friend of Mr. Petraeus’s, complained to the F.B.I. that she had received anonymous threatening emails about her relationship with Mr. Petraeus. F.B.I. agents opened a cyberstalking investigation, traced the message to Ms. Broadwell and began searching her emails. That is when they discovered evidence that she and Mr. Petraeus were having an affair. 
   
   Mr. Petraeus is said to have begun the affair with Ms. Broadwell in 2011, soon after taking the job at the C.I.A. and while she was interviewing him for her book, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.” 
   
   Mr. Petraeus resigned from the C.I.A. three days after Mr. Obama was re-elected. In a brief statement, Mr. Petraeus admitted to the affair, saying that “after being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment.” ||||| Play Facebook 
   
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   Federal prosecutors handling the case of David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA, have recommended that charges be filed against him for mishandling classified information, according to federal officials. 
   
   No charges have been filed, and it's up to Attorney General Eric Holder to decide whether the facts assembled by the FBI, and the case built by prosecutors, merit going to court. 
   
   Petraeus, a retired four-star general and once America's top man in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, became CIA director in 2011. The question has been whether he gave classified information to a woman who was writing a book about him — a woman who was also his mistress. 
   
   He acknowledged the affair when he stepped down after leading the CIA for about a year. 
   
   Neither Justice Department nor his lawyer, who has always insisted Petraeus did nothing wrong, had immediate comment. One federal official said this leak, first reported by The New York Times, is an effort to put pressure on Holder to bring charges, especially given that other, lower-level government officials have been charged with leaking classified information. 
   
   — Pete Williams
target: – Prosecutors are recommending felony charges against David Petraeus for allegedly divulging classified information to an old mistress, unnamed officials tell the New York Times. Now it's Eric Holder's call to either heed the FBI and Justice Dept advice or risk the perception of special treatment for the retired four-star general. The story goes back to 2012, when Petraeus retired as CIA director in the wake of his affair with Army Reserve officer Paula Broadwell. An investigation found classified documents on her computer and evidence that she had access to his private CIA email account. Petraeus denies divulging any classified information, and says he would refuse a plea deal. As the case dragged on, FBI and Justice officials questioned whether Petraeus was getting special treatment. A federal official tells NBC News that the Times leak is meant to pressure Holder, who was expected to decide on charges by the end of last year. President Obama has supported the ex-general, saying in 2012 that there was no proof Petraeus had leaked information "that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security." So will the storied military man, who commanded US forces in Iraq in 2007 and again in Afghanistan in 2010, go on trial? So far, it's hard to get quotes on the record. "I can't say," said FBI Director James Comey when asked about the investigation. "I mean, I guess I could say, but I won’t say."