Former CIA Director David Petraeus told lawmakers on Friday he believed all along that the deadly Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was a terrorist attack, a congressman said, as the former general faced Congress for the first time since he resigned over an extramarital affair.

Republican Rep. Peter King told reporters that Petraeus focused his remarks during the closed-door hearing on the Libya attack, which killed the U.S. ambassador. Republicans have claimed that the White House misled the public on what led to the violence by blaming it at first on protests over an anti-Muslim film produced in the U.S.

Lawmakers said Petraeus told them that CIA talking points written after the attack in Benghazi referred to it as a terrorist attack. But Petraeus said the reference was removed by other federal agencies that made changes to the CIA's draft.

The retired four-star Army general, once one of the country's most respected military leaders, entered the Capitol through a network of underground hallways, away from photographers and television cameras. CIA directors typically walk through the building's front door.

Petraeus is under investigation by the CIA for possible wrongdoing in his extramarital affair, though that wasn't the subject of Friday's hearings.

Petraeus made no comment on the affair to lawmakers, but he was asked if it would have any impact on his testimony and he said no, King said. King said Petraeus didn't seem affected by the week's developments.

As for the attack, "He was definitely fully aware of what was going on," King said.

Five days after the attack, the Obama administration sent U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on the Sunday news shows to describe it as a spontaneous protest over the anti-Muslim video. Rice relied on initial intelligence that proved incorrect, and she's now under attack by some Republican senators who vow to block her if she's nominated as secretary of state when Hillary Rodham Clinton steps down.

Lawmakers have been interviewing top intelligence and national security officials in trying to determine what the intelligence community knew before, during and after the attack. They viewed security video from the consulate and surveillance footage by an unarmed CIA Predator drone that showed events in real time.

Petraeus was appearing before the House Intelligence Committee and its Senate counterpart.

"Director Petraeus went to Tripoli and interviewed many of the people involved," said Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein.

As for Petraeus testifying shortly after his resignation amid a sex scandal, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "He's a tough individual, and I am sure he will handle it to the best of his ability."

Petraeus has acknowledged an affair with a woman later identified as his biographer, the married Paula Broadwell. The resignation of the former U.S. commander in both Iraq and Afghanistan stunned Washington, which once had buzzed with talk about a possible run for president in his future.

The FBI began investigating the matter last summer but didn't notify the White House or Congress until after the Nov. 6 election.

In the course of investigating the Petraeus affair, the FBI uncovered suggestive emails between Afghanistan war chief Gen. John Allen and Florida socialite Jill Kelley, both of them married. President Barack Obama has put Allen's promotion nomination on hold.

Top national security officials were on Capitol Hill on Thursday to grapple with fallout from the sex scandal as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asked service chiefs to review ethics training for military officers.

Lawmakers went forward with a hearing on the nomination of Gen. Joseph Dunford to replace Allen in Afghanistan. But with Allen's own future uncertain, they put off consideration of his promotion to U.S. European Command chief and NATO supreme allied commander. Allen had initially been scheduled to testify.

Leading administration officials, meanwhile, met privately with lawmakers for a third straight day to explain how the Petraeus investigation was handled and explore its national security implications. Among those appearing before the House Intelligence Committee were Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Acting CIA Director Michael Morell.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the committee's top Democrat, said after the hearing that he was satisfied that the FBI had behaved properly in not notifying the White House or lawmakers about the inquiry sooner, in keeping with rules set up to prevent interference in criminal investigations.

The CIA on Thursday opened an exploratory investigation into Petraeus' conduct. The inquiry "doesn't presuppose any particular outcome," said CIA spokesman Preston Golson.

Petraeus, in his first media interview since he resigned, told CNN that he had never given classified information to Broadwell. The general's biographer also has said she didn't receive such material from Petraeus.

But the FBI found a substantial number of classified documents on Broadwell's computer and in her home, according to a law enforcement official, and is investigating how she got them. That official spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. The Army has suspended her security clearance.

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Associated Press writers Adam Goldman, Lolita C. Baldor, Pete Yost, Donna Cassata and Robert Burns contributed to this report.