Rep. King: ‘Inexcusable’ that FBI didn’t tell president

>>> new york congressman peter king is the chairman of the house commit on homeland security . chairman king, it's good to see you. good morning.

>> good morning, matt.

>> sounds like a movie, doesn't it? sounds like the script of a movie. i don't know whether it's a comedy or drama. what's your initial reaction to what you're hearing this morning?

>> it's really a greek tragedy . general betrarks opetraeus, one of our most drishd generals and general allen, outstanding job in afghanistan, going to go to nato. you're right. this is tragic, the elements of a hollywood movie or trashy novel. bottom line, you're talking about families and outstanding military leaders and the impact it has on the country and also overall questions about the fbi .

>> also what about our credibility, not only here in the united states but abroad?

>> obviously it's hurt, and that's -- again, bring it back to the fbi . all the more reason why once this investigation last summer, whenever it was, whenever general petraeus ' name came up, i believe the fbi had an absolute obligation to tell the white house , specifically the president, what this involved, and even if general petraeus ended up being totally innocent, i have a great regard for general petraeus , wanted him to run for president, but having said that once his name came up as head of the cia and being investigated by the fbi in a potential possible sex scandal , they had the absolute obligation to tell the president because general petraeus was representing the united states in various countries around the world. he was on a number of missions, negotiating very sensitive arrangements.

>> take it one step further. can you think of any good reason why the fbi in conducting this investigation for five months would wait until basically last week to tell the president, until the day that general petraeus resigned as director of the cia to inform members of the house and the senate?

>> no. that is absolutely inexcusable. i'm on the intelligence committee . certainly the chairman of the intelligence community , mike roger and his counterparts as well as the senate intelligence committee , they are always briefed on matters such as this and i discussed this with previous chairmen. they were always briefed. any time something comes close to the investigation of a cia , the committee chairmen and ranking members are supposed to be notified and for good reason. not for ego or turf battles so we'll know what's going on if we're going to effectively monitor the cia .

>> you know a lot about the law. does it surprise you that this private citizen, jill kelley, down in florida could spark such an investigation with the fbi ?

>> no, it really is. i mean, this is not the type of case that usually becomes a federal investigation. cyber harassment between two women or between any two people, certainly involved a love triangle or whatever it was, should not rise to this level, and i understand why someone feels aggrieved but the fact is i'm not aware of cases like this going, the fbi conducting a federal investigation. listen, we're in cyber wars with iran and china which is serious enough without putting personnel on something like this, so i am very, very surprised by that and how this thing escalated so far.

>> congressman peter king . mr. chairman, thanks so much for your time this morning.

>> matt. thank you as always, matt.