Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Woman that Led the FBI to the Petraeus Affair is a State Department Official

By Connor Simpson | The Atlantic Wire – 4 hrs ago
Yesterday we found out Paula Broadwell was reported to the FBI for harassing a mystery female friend of David Petraeus and that led the FBI to discover the affair while investigating her inbox. We now know the identity of the mystery woman. 
The woman who reported Broadwell to the FBI was Jill Kelley, the State Department's liaison to the military's Joint Special Operations Command, the AP reports. Kelley is 37-years-old and lives in Tampa, Florida. Kelley and her husband, Scott, are friends with Petraeus and his wife. A source confirmed to the AP that Kelley and Petraeus are close friends. There's no indication that Kelley and Petraeus were sexually involved. This 2010 Tampa Bay Times story shows the Kelleys attended a fundraiser with the Petraeuses. Business Insider's Henry Blodget and Kim Bhasin have found more connections between Petraeus and Kelley. Officials told the New York Times on Saturday the mystery woman (Kelley) wasn't a government official, which has been proved false. 
Here's what we know about Kelley's involvement so far: Broadwell sent a series of emails to Kelley that were serious enough for Kelley to report them to the FBI for harassment. The emails would have had to spook the FBI enough to launch a harassment investigation and for them to gain access to Broadwell's email account. The emails apparently show Broadwell thought Kelley "was a threat" to her relationship with Petraeus, and the two women were "competing for Mr. Petraeus’s loyalty, if not his affection." 
At the same time, the emails Broadwell sent Kelley couldn't have revealed the affair. Sources told the Times and the Washington Post the FBI weren't aware of the tryst until they were inside Broadwell's inbox investigating the harassment claim. 
A reasonable guess would be Kelley discovered the affair at some point and was threatening to tell the military, or, worse, Broadwell's husband and Petraeus' wife. (Note: Kelley and Broadwell are both married to a man named Scott.) Broadwell freaked out and tried to get her to stay quiet. That plan backfired and led to the reveal of the secret she trying to protect. 
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