David Petraeus Resigns From CIA, Citing Affair

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned his position, citing personal reasons and an extramarital affair.

"Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the president to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA," he said in a statement. "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation."

Sources familiar with the investigation tell ABC News that Petraeus was having an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

The FBI was investigating Broadwell, for strange activity on the Internet when it discovered some emails that raised concerns, according to officials familiar with the probe.

WATCH: Paula Broadwell interviewed on the "Around The World with Christiane Amanpour"

Petraeus, a former Army general who led the surge into Iraq under former President Bush and also led U.S. troops in Afghanistan before taking over the CIA, is one of the most respected and influential generals of his time. His wife, Holly, has worked with the Obama administration to help military families.

He was scheduled to testify next week on Capitol Hill behind closed doors about the death of four Americans, including two working for the CIA. They died at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Sept. 11. Holes in security at the consulate have been the subject of an internal government investigation at the State Department and a congressional inquiry.

A U.S. official stressed that Petraeus' decision to step down had "absolutely nothing to do with Benghazi." Planned congressional hearings on the Benghazi incident will continue as planned with CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell filling in for Petraeus as acting director.

A senior U.S. official also told ABC News that Morell is expected to be named the permanent replacement atop the CIA.

President Obama reacted to the resignation with a written statement.

"David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades," Obama said. "By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end.

"As director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger."

There was no mention of the affair or the circumstances of Petraeus' resignation.

"Today, I accepted his resignation as director of the Central Intelligence Agency," Obama continued. "I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission, and I have the utmost confidence in Acting-Director Michael Morell and the men and women of the CIA who work every day to keep our nation safe.

"Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time," the president added.

The news shocked official Washington. Petraeus was perhaps the military's most-respected general of his generation. He was a problem-solver entrusted with key roles by two presidents from different parties.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she wished that Obama had not accepted Petraeus' resignation.

"I wish President Obama had not accepted this resignation, but I understand and respect the decision," Feinstein said in a statement. "This is an enormous loss for our nation's intelligence community and for our country."

Flashback: Martha Raddatz profiled David Petraeus when he retired from the military. Watch that here.

In his statement, Petraeus said, "As I depart Langley, I want you to know that it has been the greatest of privileges to have served with you, the officers of our Nation's Silent Service, a work force that is truly exceptional in every regard. Indeed, you did extraordinary work on a host of critical missions during my time as director, and I am deeply grateful to you for that.

"Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life's greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing. I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end," Petraeus added.

There were no further details about the circumstances surrounding the affair or Petraeus' departure.

Watch: Petraeus' Fall from Grace; Details of the Extramarital Affair

General Petraeus Announces Resignation, Admits to Affair

Watch: General Petraeus Announces Resignation, Admits to Affair

General Petraeus Announces Resignation, Admits to Affair

Watch: House Speaker John Boehner Discusses Working With President Obama

Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly Face Jared Lee Loughner at Sentencing

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Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly Face Jared Lee Loughner at Sentencing

Boehner Calls Raising Tax Rates 'Unacceptable'

Raising tax rates is "unacceptable" to House Speaker John Boehner as he prepares to open negotiations on the looming "fiscal cliff" with the president and congressional Democrats, he told "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer today in an exclusive interview.

"Raising tax rates is unacceptable," Boehner, R-Ohio, said in his first broadcast interview since the election Tuesday.

"Frankly, it couldn't even pass the House. I'm not sure it could pass the Senate."

That stance could set up a real showdown with the White House given that the president has said he would veto any deal that does not allow tax cuts for the rich to expire. But the speaker said that Republicans would put new tax revenue on the table as leaders work toward a deal.

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"I would do that if the president was serious about solving our spending problem and trying to secure our entitlement programs," Boehner said. "If you're increasing taxes on small-business people, it's the wrong approach."

Nevertheless, Boehner added that he is at least willing to listen to the president's proposals, even if they clash with his party's principles.

"Of course, we'll talk about it. We talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on," Boehner said. "I'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in Washington. The president knows it. He knows that he and I can work together. The election's over. Now it's time to get to work."

The fiscal cliff is a mix of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect at the end of the year that could sink the economy back into recession. Boehner told Sawyer he imagines that negotiations on a bipartisan deal will begin soon, although he did not reveal whether any talks had already been scheduled.

Still, he said he hoped the framework of a deal could be completed by the end of the year in order to direct the next Congress to work out the details.

"The American people elected new representatives," he said. "They're the ones who ought to be the ones to do this.

"There are things that we can do in the lame duck to avert the fiscal crisis, but we want to do this the right way. We don't want to rush through this in the next two to three weeks. And what do you get? You can't rewrite the tax code in the next two or three weeks. And, so, there's a lot of possibilities in terms of how we proceed, and I'm confident that we can."

Boehner also said he welcomes back Rep. Paul Ryan, whose profile has exploded since he was chosen by Mitt Romney as the vice presidential nominee. Ryan won re-election to his House seat in Wisconsin at the same time he lost the vice presidency, but Boehner demurred when asked whether his place on the presidential ticket would increase his leadership profile.

"Because he ran for the vice presidency, is he the leader of the Republican party now?" Sawyer asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't think so. Paul Ryan's a policy wonk," Boehner said. "He's involved in the cause of trying to bring us pro-growth economic agendas for America and making sure that we're doing this in a fiscally responsible way.

"I'm glad that Paul Ryan's coming back to the Congress. I would expect he would continue as chairman of the Budget Committee," he said.

"Probably nobody in the Congress knows more about pro-growth economic policies other than Paul Ryan. I don't think there's many people in the Congress who understand the entitlement crisis that we're facing more than Paul Ryan. I think he'll be an important voice in this discussion and in this debate."

Boehner also said that once he saw that Mitt Romney would lose the race for the White House, he went to sleep at about 11:15 p.m. on election night with the realization that he would wake up to divided government, but still "slept like a baby."

"I may not like the five cards that have been dealt to me, but those are the cards I've got in my hand, and my job on behalf of the American people is to find a way to vote with my Democratic colleagues and a Democratic president to solve America's problems," he said. "If there was one mandate that came out of the election, it was find a way to work together to address our problems."

Sawyer asked the speaker whether Romney should take responsibility for those election results, but Boehner said he is proud of his campaign.

Watch: Mitt Romney Returns Home

Control of Senate, House at Stake