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Comment by zwtaylor | Hacker News Reader

In his statement, Morell said he knows how that sounds but, "when I say that it is time for my family, nothing could be more real than that."

It's difficult not to be immediately skeptical at this retirement considering the timing and circumstances surrounding the announcement. His kids are college-aged and this is quite an unusual time to resign. The fact that he is being replaced with White House lawyer Avril D. Haines (Obama's deputy council in charge of national security), seems to indicate that this is either in light of the Benghazi 'scandal' or that the Obama administration is purging intelligence officials who may not be entirely loyal in the wake of the NSA leaks. There is without a doubt far more to this story.

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Morell was passed over for promotion after the Petraeus debacle. He might have just come to the realization there are no more ladders to climb in government, it's time to sell your rolodex & skills to the highest bidder in the private sector.

Also a very plausible scenario. For someone with no opportunities for promotion this is probably a great time to exit any of the intelligence agencies, it's going to be a long hot summer.

Love how you put that... Long hot summer.

Actually the government has a long history of releasing news they don't want covered on really hot days (especially before air conditioning), so that way the press is less likely to show up. That's how we got school desegregation.

Well put. This scenario requires the least assumptions.

"purging intelligence officials who may not be entirely loyal in the wake of the NSA leaks"

I doubt its NSA related. It looks like it is Benghazi -related since the White House says he is the one at the CIA who wanted the "talking points" changed to the State Departments version. Technically, Morell is going to be on the intelligence board, so he is not totally leaving.

Maybe he is sick? Maybe his marriage was at risk from the hours he puts in?

People have real life issues, too. CIA or not. I've met Morell and he is a company man to the core, a real solid good guy. Not one to be tied up in or concern himself with scandal.

It's actually a common time to resign, when someone with college-tuition-age kids wants to increase salary by $100K or more, which is easy when jumping from a high post in government to a well-connected (or wannabe well-connected) contractor or lobbyisy firm.

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