As Snowden Slams Petraeus, Petraeus Makes SecState Play

Edward Snowden leaked classified information and is a fugitive as a result; David Petraeus disclosed classified information to a romantic interest—and he got probation, a fine, and is now in the running to be Secretary of State under Donald Trump. Petraeus "shared information that was far more highly classified than I ever did with journalists," Snowden told Yahoo News Sunday, per Politico. "And he shared this information not with the public for their benefit, but with his biographer and lover for personal benefit conversations that had information, detailed information, about military special access programs that's classified above top secret, conversations with the president, and so on."

"We have a two-tiered system of justice in the United States where people who are either well-connected to government or they have access to an incredible amount of resources, get very light punishments," Snowden continued. "When the government came after him, they charged him with a misdemeanor. He never spent a single day in jail, despite the type of classified information he exposed." Petraeus himself addressed his misdeeds Sunday, CNN reports, telling ABC's This Week that if senators aren't sure they should confirm him as Secretary of State should he be nominated, "What I would say to them is what I've acknowledged for a number of years. Five years ago, I made a serious mistake. I acknowledged it. I apologized for it. I paid a very heavy price for it and I've learned from it. And, again, they'll have to factor that in and also obviously 38-and-a-half years of otherwise fairly in some cases unique service to our country in uniform and then at the CIA and then some four years or so in the business community." (More David Petraeus stories.)