RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The biographer whose extramarital affair with then-CIA director David Petraeus triggered his resignation says she regrets the relationship and the harm and grief it caused her family.
Paula Broadwell told WSOC-TV in Charlotte on Thursday that she credited her husband and friends for standing by her as she rebuilds her life six months after her relationship with the married Petraeus was revealed by an FBI investigation and ignited a political firestorm. TV crews camped out front of her family home for days and Broadwell went into seclusion. The couple has two young children.
"I have remorse for the harm, sadness that this has caused in my family and other families and for causes that we belong to," Broadwell said. "I'm blessed with family, community. That's been a great part of my rehabilitation and wonderful organizations that realize that even if you've made mistakes you can pick up dust off and move on."
Broadwell spoke briefly last month with a reporter outside a Charlotte prayer breakfast, but Thursday was her first in-depth media interview since the scandal broke. Broadwell is a U.S. Army reserve officer who met then-Gen. Petraeus while researching a book about his wartime leadership in Iraq and Afghanistan.