WASHINGTON (AP) — Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus was whisked clandestinely into a secure room beneath the Capitol, escaping waiting crowds of photographers and television cameras, to meet privately on Friday with members of Congress for the first time since he resigned over an extramarital affair with his biographer.

The retired four-star general, who until last week was one of America's most respected military leaders, discussed with the House and Senate intelligence committees the Sept. 11 attack against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. He did not discuss his affair with Paula Broadwell, except to say his departure was not tied to the Libya attack. The scandal ended his career and has damaged others, and has led to a new CIA internal investigation.

The surreptitious entrance in the morning attested to the circus-like atmosphere of the scandal that has preoccupied Washington, even as the possibility of war loomed in Israel and the U.S. government faced a market-rattling "fiscal cliff" that could imperil a still-fragile economy. The tangled web has so far enveloped Petraeus; the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen; two Florida socialites and a decorated FBI counterterrorism agent.