David Petraeus's resignation as CIA Director
The Petraeus scandal is a series of events that garnered strong media attention when an extramarital affair between retired four-star general and then-Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell became public information. Petraeus had chosen Broadwell to be his official biographer. She co-authored his biography, "", when Petraeus was the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander. On 9 November 2012, she was reported to have been involved in the extramarital affair with Petraeus that triggered his resignation as Director of the CIA when it was discovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Summary and chronology.
The case was initiated by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Frederick W. Humphries II after he received a complaint about cyberstalking from Jill Kelley. Humphries reported it to his superiors and then to Republican congressional leaders Dave Reichert and Eric Cantor. He then reported it to FBI Director Robert Mueller after receiving complaints from Kelley that she was being stalked, on the grounds that the stalker "seem[ed] to know the comings and goings of a couple of generals". The FBI investigation uncovered an extramarital affair between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, the latter being Kelley's cyberstalker. FBI agents also searched through emails that General John R. Allen exchanged with Jill Kelley.
An in-depth report in "Time" magazine provided a chronology of some of the major events and personalities as they unfolded:
People involved.
Major players.
David Petraeus.
David Petraeus (born 7 November 1952) is an American former military officer and public official. He served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 6 September 2011, until his resignation on 9 November 2012. CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell replaced Director Petraeus in his duties, serving as Acting Director. Petraeus, prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, was a four-star general with over 37 years service in the United States Army.
Petraeus reportedly began an affair with Paula Broadwell, principal author of his biography, "", after Petraeus left his ISAF command on 18 July 2011, to become CIA director. Petraeus reportedly ended the affair in the summer of 2012, around the time that he learned that Broadwell had been sending harassing emails to a longstanding family friend of the Petraeuses, Jill Kelley.
Kelley, a Lebanese American socialite in Tampa Bay, Florida, had approached an associate who worked for the FBI Tampa Field Office in the late spring about anonymous emails she considered threatening. The Bureau traced the emails to Broadwell and noted that Broadwell appeared to be exchanging intimate messages with an email account belonging to Petraeus, which instigated an investigation into whether that account had been hacked into or was someone posing as Petraeus.
In the wake of his resignation, Petraeus hired influential attorney Robert B. Barnett to represent him. Barnett has represented many influential people including President Barack Obama and has served as a practice debate opponent for many Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Paula Broadwell.
Paula Broadwell (born 9 November 1972) is a US Army Intelligence Officer, an American writer, academic, and anti-terrorism professional.
She is the co-author with Vernon Loeb of The "New York Times" Best Seller, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus", a biography of then International Security Assistance Force commander David Petraeus. On November 9, 2012, she was reported to have been involved in the extramarital affair with Petraeus that triggered his resignation as Director of the CIA when it was discovered by the FBI because of her high level targets of cyber-stalking.
In or about May 2012, Jill Kelley, an Honorary Ambassador to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, began to receive anonymous emails which she considered to be threatening and harassing. She contacted the FBI, who traced the emails to Broadwell. The emails reportedly indicated that Broadwell suspected Kelley of starting an affair with General David Petraeus, who was a friend of Kelley's. Although the sending of the emails was deemed to be insufficient grounds for a criminal charge, the FBI called Broadwell in for questioning, at which time she admitted to the affair with Petraeus. After Broadwell turned over her computer, classified documents were found, which led to further FBI scrutiny of her relationship with Petraeus. Although Petraeus was not identified as the provider of the documents, the affair was revealed in early November 2012 and was cited by Petraeus as the reason for his resignation on November 9. On 14 November 2012, Broadwell was stripped of her clearances to access classified information, and her promotion to lieutenant colonel was revoked.
As an officer in the US Army Reserve, Broadwell has been suspended pending the outcome of the FBI investigation. She has cooperated with investigators in their effort to remove classified material in her possession. When the news of the scandal became public, Paula Broadwell spent time away from her husband and family secluded in Washington D.C. Her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, was searched by the FBI, all computers were removed, and some classified documents were found there. She returned home to be with her husband and children. The media has taken note of how Scott and Paula Broadwell have tried to get back to normal life.
Following the revelations about her relationship with Petraeus, Broadwell has retained the services of former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers with the public relations firm The Glover Park Group. The founders of The Glover Park Group have previously served as officials in the Clinton White House and on the presidential campaign of former vice president Al Gore. The firm's services include public relations, advertising, marketing, government relations and policy counsel, crisis management and opinion research.
Jill Kelley.
Jill Kelley (née Gilberte Khawam, 3 June 1975) the Ambassador to General Mattis and confidant to CIA Director Petraeus, who frequently entertained senior officers from nearby MacDill Air Force Base at her Tampa home. Kelley's family is Lebanese-American Maronite Catholic. Kelley's friendships with four star Generals David Petraeus and John R. Allen led to her becoming a key figure in the government investigations into the communications of the two men.
In May 2012, Kelley contacted a local FBI investigator whom she knew, Frederick W. Humphries II, to complain about being cyberstalked. This set off a chain of events that eventually led to Petraeus's resignation on November 9, 2012. The anonymous emailer was identified as Paula Broadwell, who investigators discovered had been having an affair with Petraeus.
On 13 November 2012, defense aecretary Leon Panetta said that General Allen's nomination for the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe would be delayed while the investigation into Allen's extensive communications with Kelley was underway, though both Secretary Panetta and Obama expressed their confidence in General Allen's ability to lead in his current post and noted that he has not been formally censured.
During the investigations, Kelley was represented by defense lawyer Abbe D. Lowell and crisis management expert Judy Smith. Lowell was Chief Minority Counsel to the Democrats in the House of Representatives during the unsuccessful opposition of the impeachment of Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal. Smith is founder, president and CEO of "Smith and Company."
Natalie Khawam.
Natalie Khawam (born June 3, 1975) is an attorney in Florida. Khawam holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. She is also the identical twin sister of Jill Kelley. She was reportedly also friends with both General David Petraeus and General John R. Allen. Khawam was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
According to White House sources, both Kelley and Khawam visited the White House three times from September to November 2012. The visits occurred after the FBI had begun investigating allegedly threatening and jealous emails Kelley said she received over her friendship with then-CIA Director Petraeus. Khawam had a relationship with Gerald Harrington, the vice chair of finance for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Harrington is a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and it was Harrington that gave Khawam access to events hosted by Senator John Kerry, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Patrick J. Kennedy.
John R. Allen.
John R. Allen (born December 15, 1953) is a United States Marine Corps four-star general. On July 18, 2011, Allen assumed command of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), succeeding Army General David Petraeus. He has been appointed NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, to take office in early 2013, pending confirmation by the United States Senate. On November 13, 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that Allen's nomination for SACEUR would be "delayed". News agencies reported that Allen's communications with Jill Kelley, a Tampa woman who was friends with Allen's predecessor as top commander in Afghanistan, David Petraeus, were under investigation. Petraeus had resigned as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency four days earlier.
In November 2012, Allen became embroiled in an inappropriate communication investigation concerning his correspondences with Jill Kelley. According to the FBI, Allen had received anonymous e-mail messages, sent by someone identified as "kelleypatrol" (later found to be Paula Broadwell) advising him to stay away from Jill Kelley. Allen forwarded it to Kelley and they discussed a concern that someone was cyberstalking them.
In response to the investigation, Secretary Panetta moved to speed the nomination of General Joseph Dunford to command of forces in Afghanistan.
As a result of his name emerging as part of the scandal, Allen is reported as being represented by military spokesmen as well as military defense lawyers from the chief defense counsel of the Marine Corps. The United States Marine Corps Judge Advocate Division is the United States Marine Corps's legal arm, and is subordinate to the Judge Advocate General of the Navy. The head of the Division is the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC). Military attorneys (or judge advocates) in the Marine Corps work under the supervision of the SJA to the CMC to advise Marine commanders regarding legal issues. Colonel John G. Baker, the chief defense counsel of the Marine Corps has been speaking for Allen.
On January 22, 2013, General Allen was cleared in a misconduct inquiry.
Frederick W. Humphries II.
Frederick Ward Humphries II (born 1965), the FBI agent who started the investigation, was a friend of Jill Kelley.
Humphries had pursued Kelley's cyberstalking complaint after he had reported it, even though he was not assigned to the case. He was admonished by supervisors who thought he was trying to improperly insert himself into the investigation when in late October 2012, fearing that the case was being stalled, he contacted Representative Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington State, where Humphries had once been stationed, to inform him of the case. Reichert put him in touch with the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, who passed the message to FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Humphries was later barred from taking part in the investigation over concerns that he had become "obsessed" with the case. Officials discovered that he had once sent a shirtless photo of himself posing with dummies at a shooting range to Kelley, although Humphries later told "The Seattle Times" that dozens of other friends and acquaintances had also received the photo in a "joking" email sent in the fall of 2010, soon after Humphries had transferred to Tampa from Guantánamo Bay.
In November 2012 Humphries remained under investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility, the internal-affairs arm of the United States Department of Justice.
Humphries, a University of Tampa graduate, has had a notable FBI career. In December 1999, his familiarity with the French language allowed him to recognize the Algerian accented French of Ahmed Ressam. Skeptical of Ressam's claim to be French Canadian, Humphries had Ressam detained. The Algerian-born Ressam was later found guilty of conspiring to attack Los Angeles International Airport. The trial judge in the Ressam case, John C. Coughenour, praised Humphries' work and integrity. In May 2010 Humphries killed a retired Army Ranger at the MacDill Air Force Base main gate after the retiree brandished a knife and was said to have threatened the lives of base security officials and Humphries. The fatal shooting was later deemed to be justified.
Humphries was represented by Lawrence Berger, the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. Berger has stated that: "Humphries only received the information from Ms. Kelley and never played a role in the investigation...Humphries and his wife had been 'social friends with Ms. Kelley and her husband prior