Colin Powell Denies Affair With Romanian Diplomat

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has denied that he was having an extra-marital affair with Romanian politician Corina Cretu,

The allegations surfaced when a hacker known as Guccifer accessed his email account. This is the same hacker who got into the Bush family email accounts.

Powell met Cretu, 46, who is now a member of the European Parliament, about 10 years ago when she was an assistant to the Romanian president. He acknowledged that they kept in touch via email after he left office in 2005 during which time Powell says he provided her with career advice.

The retired four-star general told The Smoking Gun that there was nothing inappropriate going on between them. “Over time the emails became of a very personal nature, but did not result in an affair. Those types of emails ended a few years ago. There was no affair then and there is not one now. Over the past eight years I have seen Ms. Cretu once or twice when she came from Europe to attend group conferences in Washington. I have not seen her in several years, but we remain friends and are in touch.” Powell added that he was “pleased that she is having a successful career” and “is recently and happily married.”

According to ABC News, Powell earlier this week asked Cretu to delete all emails “between us.” ABC also reports that an email from Cretu to Powell in November 2011 stated in part that “I’ve loved you too, much, too, many years..YOU were my greatest love of my life… ” The Smoking Gun claims that “The 2010-2011 e-mails would leave most readers with the clear impression that the forlorn Cretu is writing about the twilight of a lengthy romance.”

The New York Daily News reports that Cretu “also sent him numerous photos of herself, including shots of her in a bikini and in a hot tub. But her affection for [Powell] seems to have never been reciprocated.”

[photo credit: Charles Haynes via photopin cc]