In April former CIA director and retired general David Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of handing over classified information to his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell. He was sentenced to two years probation and a $100,000 fine.

Petraeus had passed on several 5-by-8 inch black notebooks containing classified information to Broadwell.

Despite his conviction, the former general remains a trusted adviser to the White House on its strategy in Iraq.

He will represent the United States on security issues at the Bilderberg confab in Austria beginning Thursday.

Unlike Edward Snowden or Bradley Manning, Petraeus was excused for his transgression because he is a valued insider and a key player in the global elite's plan for a mass surveillance grid.

"Senators, generals, ambassadors, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the owner of The Atlantic were in the roster of powerful voices who wrote to a federal judge to ask him to go easy on" Petraeus, writes Cora Currier.

The list includes former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham and Admiral Michael Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.