[Hot Air] Down goes another option to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser, CBS News reports, and from a rather surprising source. After a speech overseas that apparently angered the White House, David Petraeus is no longer in the running for the spot -- and that comes from sources close to Petraeus rather than the White House:Sources close to retired Gen. David Petraeus say the White House eliminated the former CIA director from consideration for the open national security adviser post after he weighed in on the job during a conference in Germany this week.
"Whoever it is that would agree to take that position certainly should do so with some very, very significant assurances that he or she would have authorities over the personnel of the organization -- that there would be a commitment to a disciplined process and procedures," Petraeus said at the Munich Security Conference.
That pronouncement angered the White House as it deepened the sense the next national security adviser must assert authority over staff and the inter-agency process -- highlighting the reason Vice Adm. Robert Harward refused to take the job earlier this week. Two sources confirmed to CBS News that Harward had demanded his own team, and the White House resisted.
The bigger surprise of this CBS update on the national security adviser sweepstakes is that David Petraeus was seriously in the running. The former four-star general and CIA director had his name included in media shortlists, but with the big, fat asterisk of having a misdemeanor conviction on his record for mishandling highly classified information. That wouldn’t have been an insurmountable legal issue -- if nothing else, Donald Trump could have issued a presidential pardon to wipe it off the record. Politically, though, it would have created some difficulties, and it’s not certain whether Petraeus could get a high enough clearance after that to perform the job.