A group of news organizations filed a lawsuit Monday asking for the release of documents pertaining to the case of Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director who was
sentenced last week for providing classified material to his mistress.
A judge sentenced Petraeus to two years' probation and a $100,000 fine for giving his biographer, Paula Broadwell, classified information. The two were having an extramarital affair at the time.
On Monday,
The Intercept reported that it is part of a "coalition of news organizations" that wants official documents about Petraeus' sentencing released to the media.
In particular, the group wants to see letters from more than 30 people who supported Petraeus, some of whom are "high-level government and military officials," according to The Intercept.
"The letters paint a portrait of a man considered among the finest military leaders of his generation who also has committed a grave but very uncharacteristic error in judgment," U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler said at last Thursday's sentencing hearing, according to The Intercept.
The letters are currently sealed in a federal court for the Western District of North Carolina. The Intercept, which is part of First Look Media, is joined by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and other media outlets in its pursuit of having the documents unsealed and released.
"Given the attention the case has received, we think it's important for the public to see the arguments that Petraeus made for leniency, and the people who wrote letters in support of him," said Hannah Bloch-Wehba, of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, according The Intercept.
In February, emails pertaining to the Petraeus case were released and shed more light on the
scandal, which gained national attention when it first came to light in 2012. Petraeus resigned from his post as CIA director on Nov. 8, 2012, and has been ensnarled in a legal battle ever since.
Petraeus allegedly let Broadwell borrow
eight "black books" that contained highly classified material while the two were having an affair.
"They are highly classified, some of them … I mean, there's code-word stuff in there," Petraeus told Broadwell at the time.
In April 2013, the FBI seized the "black books" from an unlocked drawer on the first floor of Petraeus' home.
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