Petraeus biographer says in speech CIA held militants in Benghazi; CIA denies it
WASHINGTON - The CIA is denying an assertion made by David Petraeus' biographer and former lover that the agency held militants in Libya before the Sept. 11 attack that killed the U.S. ambassador.
During a talk last month at the University of Denver, Paula Broadwell said the CIA had detained people at a secret facility in Benghazi and the attack on the U.S. Consulate was an effort to free those prisoners.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order in January 2009 stripping the CIA of its authority to take prisoners. The move means the CIA can no longer operate secret jails as it did under the administration of President George W. Bush.
CIA spokesman Preston Golson said "any suggestion that the agency is still in the detention business is uninformed and baseless."
