In fact most PATRIOT Act "sneak & peak" searches have been for drug investigations.

I don't know about Spitzer (though he was Governor of New York), but someone holding blackmail leverage over Petraeus is certainly a matter of national security concern.

...that is still outside the scope of the program that revealed the information.

This is a ridiculous post hoc justification.

I'm not making any justification in my post. I'm just saying that an affair/adultery by someone who holds national security information and a clearance is different than Joe Civilian.

There are security interests in monitoring people who hold clearance. I'm not making any statements about unlimited wiretapping and data collection.