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, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, 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:
Broadwell, then a United States Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, first met Petraeus at Harvard University in 2006. Petraeus attained the rank of four-star general on 10 February 2007. Petraeus and Broadwell engaged in a secret extramarital affair—exactly when is not clear—after years of close contact as biographer (Broadwell) and subject (Petraeus). By the time Petraeus became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2011, Broadwell had been working closely with him for years. She used nicknames for him such as "Dangerous Dave" and "Peaches". In May 2012, Jill Kelley filed a complaint with the FBI after receiving disturbing emails from a user identifying as "kelleypatrol". Kelley, her husband Scott, as well as her sister Natalie Khawam also happened to be friends of Petraeus and his wife Holly from the time Petraeus was stationed at CENTCOM in Tampa, Florida. Petraeus and Broadwell used fake names to create free webmail accounts exchanging messages without encryption tools. They would share an email account, with one saving a message in the drafts folder and the other deleting it after reading it. The FBI's investigation identified Paula Broadwell as the source of "kelleypatrol". The FBI used electronic metadata that pinpointed the times, places and IP addresses of "kelleypatrol." The FBI and intelligence agencies observed information regarding high-ranking U.S. military personnel, including Petraeus, and noted that some of the exchanges were "sexually charged". From the summer of 2012, FBI Director Robert Mueller and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided to withhold information until after the U.S. presidential election on 6 November. It was two months before Mueller and Holder dispatched FBI Deputy Director Sean M. Joyce to notify the Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper late on November 6 about the discovery of the affair. Agents had confronted Broadwell on 2 November 2012. The report did not reach headquarters until November 5. Mueller and Holder reviewed it on 6 November (Election Day); he decided that it was time to inform Clapper. Forensic techniques that discovered Broadwell's identity and the affair with Petraeus also uncovered almost 30,000 pages of messages between Kelley and General John R. Allen, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Allen denied an affair, but officials hinted that the emails raised "questions of impropriety". Allen's nomination as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander was put on hold. Media focused on the Kelley-Khawam families and found that Generals Petraeus and Allen had both intervened on behalf of Natalie Khawam (Wolfe), the twin sister of Jill (Khawam) Kelley, in a civilian child custody dispute by writing to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. FBI agent Humphries, who was allegedly the one who had initially taken Kelley's case to the FBI's field office in Tampa, Florida, also had a personal friendship with Kelley. Humphries repeatedly intervened to advance the case, to which he was not assigned. In late October 2012 he phoned two US Representatives, Republicans Dave Reichert and Eric Cantor, and said that he believed the US Department of Justice was covering up the case. Humphries became the subject of an ethics probe by the Office of Professional Responsibility. On 7 November 2012, James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, informed Thomas E. Donilon, the US National Security Advisor, about the Petraeus affair. The United States Department of Justice also informed the White House Counsel about General Allen's correspondence with Jill Kelley. On 8 November 2012, Petraeus tendered his resignation as CIA chief to President Obama, per directive from James Clapper. On 9 November 2012, Obama accepted Petraeus' resignation as Director of the CIA, after Petraeus admitted having a sexual relationship with his biographer. On 23 April 2015, Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified materials. He was given a two-year probationary period and a fine of $100,000.
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, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, 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.Petraeus told biographer to stop harassing family friend, officials say The Washington Post November 12, 2012
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 ObamaGuttenplan, D.D. (October 24, 2008) "The Washington insider who made Obama rich". The Financial Times. Accessed 25 October 2008. and has served as a practice debate opponent for many Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates.Barnett, Robert. (October 7, 2008) "Practice debate opponent shares his secrets". CNN. Accessed 25 October 2008.
Paula Broadwell
Paula Broadwell (born 9 November 1972) is a US Army Intelligence Officer, an American writer, academic, and anti-terrorism professional.Shear, Michael, D. (November 9, 2012). "Woman Linked to Petraeus Is a West Point Graduate and Lifelong High Achiever." The New York Times 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.FBI Scrutinized on Petraeus: Complaints by Female Social Planner Led to Email Trail That Undid CIA Chief The Wall Street Journal November 11, 2012 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, (subscription required) who frequently entertained senior officers from nearby MacDill Air Force Base at her Tampa home.Petraeus friend Jill Kelley found place hosting military parties Tampa Bay Times November 13, 2012 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.