The increasingly strange case of David Petraeus [Reader Post]

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What we think we know thus far

Paula Broadwell met Gen. David Petraeus in 2006 and wrote a dissertation about Petraeus’ leadership style and subsequently decided to write a book about it in 2008.

Broadwell was granted impressive access to Petraeus and his workings.

The two apparently engaged in an extramarital affair.

Their relationship, which allegedly began in 2011, is said to have ended four months ago.

The affair came to light subsequent to an FBI investigation which included sifting through emails.

Broadwell is said to have had classified intel on her computer both she and Petraeus both deny it came from him.

Jill Kelley is said to have received threatening emails from an account established by Paula Broadwell.

Jill Kelley is a social liaison for the Army and lives in Tampa.

Jill Kelley is said not have been in a relationship with Petraeus.

Kelley is said to have contacted the FBI about the threatening emails.

This is where everything goes off the rails.

The FBI agent contacted by Kelley is said to be a friend of Kelley’s- and more.

WASHINGTON—A federal agent who launched the investigation that ultimately led to the resignation of Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus was barred from taking part in the case over the summer due to superiors’ concerns that he had become personally involved in the case, according to officials familiar with the probe.

New details about how the Federal Bureau of Investigation handled the case suggest that even as the bureau delved into Mr. Petraeus’s personal life, the agency had to address questionable conduct by one of its own—including allegedly sending shirtless photos of himself to a woman involved in the case.

Now the agent’s behavior is in question:

FBI officials declined to identify the agent, so he couldn’t be reached to give his side of the story. The agent is now under investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility, the internal-affairs arm of the FBI, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The revelations address how the investigation first began and ultimately led to Mr. Petraeus’s downfall as director of the CIA. The new developments also raise questions about the role played by the FBI and the adequacy of notification to administration and congressional leaders about the scandal.

The FBI agent who started the case was a friend of Jill Kelley, the Tampa woman who received harassing, anonymous emails that led to the probe, according to officials. Ms. Kelley, a volunteer who organizes social events for military personnel in the Tampa area, complained in May about the emails to a friend who is an FBI agent. That agent referred it to a cyber crimes unit, which opened an investigation.

However, supervisors soon became concerned that the initial agent might have grown obsessed with the matter, and prohibited him from any role in the investigation, according to the officials.

Petraeus gave a briefing on the Benghazi attacks which was entirely off base:

Two days after the deadly Libya terror attack, representatives of the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center gave Capitol Hill briefings in which they said the evidence supported an Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-affiliated attack, Fox News has learned.

The description of the attack by those in the Sept. 13 briefings stands in stark contrast to the now controversial briefing on Capitol Hill by CIA Director David Petraeus the following day — and raises even more questions about why Petraeus described the attack as tied to a demonstration.

Now it is disclosed that Maj. Gen. John Allen has been exchanging “inappropriate communications” with Jill Kelley.

There are a million questions that demand answers.

What exactly was sent to Jill Kelley?

Who could have had access to Paula Broadwell’s computer?

How did the classified intel get onto Broadwell’s computer?

If this affair ended four months ago, why the delay in the report and the resignation?

How does the FBI investigate the Director of the CIA without informing the White House or Justice?

What exactly was Jill Kelley’s relationship with the FBI agent?

Why did Petraeus put out such garbage intel regarding the Benghazi attack and then resign just AFTER the election?

Something stinks here. Really stinks. I think this is just beginning and Broadwell’s father left us a teaser:

Mr Kranz told MailOnline today that the shock of the past few days is ‘just the beginning of a process’.

He spoke this morning on the snow-covered drive of his modest bungalow in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he lives with wife Nadene. He said: ‘I’ve been advised by attorneys not to talk right now. This is private property.

‘I hope you understand this is the beginning of a process. I can’t say more than that. I couldn’t if I wanted to.’

On Sunday, Mr Kranz elaborated further on the scandal which has propelled his 40-year-old daughter into the national media glare. He told the Daily News: ‘This is about something else entirely, and the truth will come out.’

What do you think?

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This entire story stinks to high heaven. Was Ms Broadwell a public official, subject to prosecutable intimidation? I know you cannot harass Justice Department officials; what was Broadwell’s excuse? Has the FBI so much time on their hands that they can investigate random complaints? Can I complain to them about harassing emails that I get?
Where were Petraeus and Allen during the investigation of Oliver North? Did they learn NOTHING from that escapade? Poor Ollie did not have a good shredder program. It is incredibly difficult to get rid of emails. They get recorded, as anyone who is half-bright should know. Just look at Climategate. Those clowns thought they had everything shredded. Wrong. It is all out in the open now.
This is a centipede, shedding one shoe at a time. We are still far from a resolution of how military weapons were being transferred to Al Quaeda in Syria.
Gee. Perhaps there IS a parallel here. North was running guns to the opposition to the Sandanistas. Obama was running guns to the opposition to Sadat. In Iran-Contra a cover-up ensued. In Benghazigate a cover-up has ensued.
Hmmm.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I wonder what is next?

Applying Occam’s Razor, nothing is out of place.
They had an affair and it was discovered.
Broadwell works on some Intel or Counterintel stuff and she broke the rule because she was lazy and brought some classified document home on her laptop.

As of right now, nothing points to a conspiracy, but it is getting interesting…

and all of this is making front page news to cover the questions about Benghazi. I personally believe Patraeus resigned before obama could ‘blackmail’ him in regard to testifying before Congress. If Patraeus has the honor and valor that he has espoused throughout his career he WILL testify and he WILL tell the truth. His legacy has already been ruined, so he has not much else to lose – unless obama has his thugs knock him off somewhere and then say Patraeus was depressed and killed himself. It has happened before and it is probably happening now.

I think I am disgusted by a lack of professionalism and honor by all involved. But a fish rots from the head down. Who does the buck stop with again?

This whole incident is diversionary crap!! Slick got a hummer in the Whitehouse during working hours and kept his job. No one knows what happened here and the MSM is going bonkers about it!! Not one mention of the scandal of Benghazi other than the fact that 0-blama wants to replace hillary with the cover up queen ambassador to the UN. Once again our MSM is aiding our President and failing our country!!

The ”other” woman is acting kind of strange.

Jill Kelley has hired DC superlawyer Abbe Lowell and crisis PR specialist Judy Smith.

Also Jill Kelley, 37, and her doctor husband Scott owe millions to banks.

Did she break this to the feds or to the media so she could get some cash???

If so, this takes an exceedingly tawdry turn.

@Common Sense: “This whole incident is diversionary crap!! ” I think you nailed it.

@DrJohn:

Let’s take a look at what we have: we know there was an FBI investigation, and we are being told it was “independent” of General Petreaus at the time. So what was the investigation really about?

We are being told that Broadwell had an affair with Petreaus while in Afghanistan, yet broke it off when she returned stateside. Now we are being told that she created three proxy email addresses in order to harass a woman she thought was having an affair with Petreaus, while he was still in Afghanistan, and Kelley was stateside, although the claim is Broadwell is the one that ended it. Does it make any sense to any of you that a woman who wanted the affair over would harass another woman? Sorry, that dog won’t hunt.

We are being told that Kelley received harassing emails from Broadwell, confided them to a friend who was a regional FBI agent, the agent kicked that information up the ladder (which would be normal) but he had been told to “stand down” and now he is being accused of sending Weiner type photos to Kelley? Are we to assume that such emails, pertaining to a high ranking General, would not have gone all the way to the top? I mean, the very top? Face palm.

What are we missing?

Paula Broadwell wrote a book about Petreaus, but with a co-author. Who was that co-author? Vernon Loeb. Who is Vernon Loeb? He is the former reporter that broke the story of the heroism of Jessica Lynch. Leob used that story to hit the talk shows, and even contribute to a PBS special about Pfc. Lynch, making her a modern day Joan of Arc. Only problem? It was bogus. Lynch’s story was made up in Loeb’s mind. After it was discovered that the Jessica Lynch story was false, Loeb refused to ever discuss it again. But Loeb wasn’t done. He wrote a number of articles about the war in Iraq which were quickly picked up and repeated by anti-war websites, using Loeb in their argument against the war. (search engines are wonderful things) Loeb is now an editor with the Washington [com]Post, and was known as a far left reporter. Add to this that Loeb was also co-author on a book written by Jack O’Connell, long time former CIA who was assigned to Jordan and King Hussein. O’Connell became hard, fast friends with Hussein, and even became a political advisor to Hussein during the Six-Day War against Israel.

Why would Broadwell, with all the great co-writers at her disposal, choose Vernon Loeb to co-author her book about a well respected General whose name had been bantied about as a possible Republican candidate for POTUS and was on Romney’s short list for VP?

We also learn that Jill Kelley has a twin sister, a lawyer who specializes in whistle-blower cases, who went through a heated legal battle over custody of her child. The judge thought Natialie Khawam was a bit unstable. Khawam has sent harassing emails to her ex-husbands friends and business associates, according to an Examiner article. (head scratch). Jill Kelley and Natalie Khawam are identical twins, and it is very hard to tell them apart. Jill Kelley, and her husband, Scott, have now retained the same lawyer that represented Democrat John Edwards.

And the plot thickens.

@DrJohn:

And today, realizing that military moral is at an all time low (Petreaus’ actions didn’t help) we are being told that Lurch John Kerry is being floated for Secretary of Defense and the lying Susan Rice for Secretary of State. Gee, I wonder if our military will shrink due to all those whose father’s fought in Southeast Asia, and remember John Kerry as no more than a traitor to his nation, deciding they can no longer support a military who has a traitor as their chief officer.

Way off topic here, but there are now 45 States with petitions for secession on the White House website. These petitions are totally symbolic and the WH requires 25,000 signatures within 30 days for an official response. Georgia has just over 20,000 at last check, but Texas has almost 75,000.
Some notes on Texas:
-If Texas were its own country, it would have the tenth-highest GDP in the world. Canada would be number eleven.
-For every dollar Texas taxpayers send to Washington, they currently get only about 80 cents back. Theoretically, they could transfer those funds to the state’s coffers and still give every Texan a 20 percent tax cut.
-Texas is the only state with its own power grid.
-Texas does have a significant defense presence, namely in the Texas State Guard (which answers only to the governor), the Texas National Guard, the Air Guard and the legendary Texas Rangers.
H/T – Daily Caller
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/13/secession-yall-why-texas-can-pull-it-off/#ixzz2C7w7E9ce

If Texas were to actually make such a move, I would most likely utter the words of Davy Crockett:
“you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas!”

@Aqua:

I imagine that if Texas were to actually secede, that the migration to Texas would increase by a large percentage over what is happening currently.

Not to mention that I believe Texas is the first domino that would need to fall, in that regard, but would soon be followed by many others within the southeast and southwest.

Interesting times.

Is it now clear why O floated Petreaus as Romney’s running mate? The timing of this whole “affair” was purely political. How important was the potential leaks if the Sitting Resident allowed the situation to continue for the sake of political advantage?

Admirals forced into retirement, Generals, too.
Now news that a forth general (Gen. William “Kip” Ward) is being demoted to three-star lieutenant general and forced to retire.
Was there an attempt to stand up to Obama for his dithering chicken act that cost 4 lives in Benghazi?
Has there been a wholesale cleansing of the military hives?
Will all the surviving top brass be chickens like Panetta and Obama?

don’t know abt the controversy- but based on an old joke, I thik I know how to make ms broadwell, nee kranz stop having sex…marry her

@Nan G:
I don’t think that’s the best way to shut them up Nan. Military members do not really have freedom of speech as long as they are in uniform. If you force them to retire, they can say whatever they want. The best way to shut them up is to keep them in service.

@retire05:

John Kerry is being floated for Secretary of Defense

Reportedly, it’s not the job that Kerry wanted, but Obama is insisting. The purpose of this choice is to give the finger to the Military and anybody who supports them.

@Aqua:

In 1824, the Mexican government dispatched one of its generals to take an assessment of the political winds in Tejas. The general reported back “They all go about with their [U.S.] constitution in their pocket, demanding their rights.”

Not much has changed in almost 200 years.

Remember as well, that as a republic, Texas would have the right to negotiate its own treaties, assign foreign ambassadors, control its borders (which currently remain a sieve), directly trade with foreign markets for its products like oil, cotton, rice, cattle, manufactured goods like computer components, etc. Americans require two things for survival; food and energy. We have both in abundance. East Texas provides lumber, and steel is now mostly produced by foreign markets.

The cost of refining could be cut because Texas refineries would no longer be required, by the federal government, to produce all the designer blends required by states like California. You want gas? You have four choices; three blends of unleaded and diesel. That’s it. Of all states most capable of being independent, it is Texas.

I am not a secessionist. I believe in the union of states. But something has to give. The Tenth Amendment is being thwarted more and more by the Obama administration.

@Wm T Sherman:

No, Kerry wants Secretary of State. But the only nation he would hold any sway over would be France. And giving him Secretary of Defense would demoralize our troops beyond repair. Even Leon Panetta, a Clinton retread, would not be as bad as Kerry would be.

@Aqua:
On this odd topic of petitions for state succession.
There is a NEW petition.
Oddly titled article about it:

W.H. Petition Calls for Stripping Citizenship and Exile for Anyone Who Signs Petition to Secede
Weekly Standard, by Daniel Halper
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/wh-petition-calls-stripping-citizenship-and-exile-anyone-who-signs-petition-secede_663282.html

Actually, it is not FROM the White House (that we know of).
And it only has 2,205 signatures as of Halper’s article.

But it makes me wonder…..

IF I sign it can I be declared an ”illegal” who then can skip tax paying, licensing, fee paying, insuring, and yet be allowed to stay here indefinitely?

From behind “The Golden EIB Mike”……….

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae277/RAPH6969/105.jpg

and what happen to the BENGHASI MURDER OF THE AMBASSADOR
AND THE 3 SEALS BRAVES? WHERE DO THEY FIT IN THERE?
WHERE IS THE CONNECTION?
IS THERE A COLLUSION? WHERE IS IT?
IN BENGHASI OR IN THE USA?
WHY DID STEVEN NEVER GOT THE SUPPORT HE DEMANDED MANY TIMES UNTIL HE DIED?
WHY DID THE SEALS ORDERED TO NOT GET INVOLVED? THEY SAVED 30 PERSONS BY GETTING INVOLVED, WHY WOULD THOSE NOT BE SAVED?
WHO WANT THEM ALL TO BE MURDERED,
why are we seeing the PETRAEUS STORY instead of the murder story?

Just the kind of story which is most popular with so many readers.

@Aqua: Oklahoma is tied in to the Texas grid also.

@harp1034:

But Texas has the capacity to end the flow of electicity at the Texas-Oklahoma border.

retire05
I don’t think TEXAS WOULD TAKE IT ON OKLAHOMA FOR ELECTRIC GRID, AS A MATTER OF FACT, i THINK OKLAHOMA WOULD JOIN TEXAS, ALSO, AND BUSYNESS AS USUAL,

@retire05:
Excellent research. The twin sister is probably the spy. Poor jill is trying to drum up some business to pay off the millions they owe. Maybe they invested in Solyandra(?).

Rides A Pale Horse
hi,
that was good
as usual.
thank you

Thanks Bees. Rush does have a way with words.

@ilovebeeswarzone:

@Nan G: #24
I would say that POTUS cannot strip anyone’s citizenship by executive order, but then, he’s done so many other things by XO that I thought that he couldn’t do…
His rationale could very well be, “Hey! I can grant citizenship by XO, I can take it away by XO!”

Nan G
HI,
hopefully IT’S not, and no one would try it,
without consequences,
the proud would not laugh,

Petercat
HI,
he might feel solid enough with his civil army to try,
but no one mess with TEXAS,
BYE

@Nan G:

IF I sign it can I be declared an ”illegal” who then can skip tax paying, licensing, fee paying, insuring, and yet be allowed to stay here indefinitely?

That is hilarious.

@retire05:

I am not a secessionist. I believe in the union of states. But something has to give. The Tenth Amendment is being thwarted more and more by the Obama administration.

I joined the Air Force when I was 17. I was born and raised in Memphis, but I am not a big fan of the area. I spent way more time in San Antonio than most people that go into the Air Force. I love everything about Texas. I visit quite often on business and to this day there is still a feel of the Old West there.
Who knows, we may be neighbors in the next few years.

Back on topic, (and I apologize for deviating Dr. J.) I think this whole scandal is the result of blatant stupidity on the part of the FBI and a mentally unstable lady. So, here’s my take:
Jill Kelley just happens to have a friend that is an FBI agent. She gets some strange emails from Paula (aka Fatal Attraction). Jill goes to her FBI friend, who in turn hands over the information to the cyber-crimes unit, (CCU). CCU looks at the emails, says there is nothing really threatening and they can’t really help. Jill’s FBI friend says, look, just look a little, she’s a friend and she’s hot, (the FBI agent was removed from the case because he became personally involved and sent a shirtless picture to Jill Kelley). The CCU scrapes the service, and boom!
I’m not saying that this isn’t a good thing, I think it is. Law Enforcement gets lucky sometimes and it pays off. It now looks like Fatal Attraction has in her possession things that she shouldn’t. But to tell you the truth, I don’t see anything else here. It’s just an uncovered love affair that may bring down several people and ruin their reputations. But like I tell my kids, if you don’t want your reputation ruined, don’t put it at risk.

Friday is going to be good.
Retired General and ex-CIA head David Patraeus is set to testify to Congress.
I don’t know how much will be public.
But, I wonder If this whole this was an attempt to paint him as untrustworthy.
His photo of taking office as CIA head, hand on family Bible held by wife he’d already cheated on has been all over the liberal media.

So, the president just said…that “he” (the whitehouse) was the one who sent Rice to do a “presentation” about Benghazi. He implied that he was not briefed on what she was…simply that she was briefed and went out to give a presentation of what they knew at the time. The president then got angry and vindictive about questioning Rice or his/her motives in this as anything more than that.

Here’s the problem Mr President. Despite your careful strawman setup that you sent rice to simply inform or do a presentation….she was sent out AFTER the news was buzzing that this had nothing to do with a film to unequivocally “defend” that view by going on every single network to shoot down allegations that were leading to different conclusions. She didn’t do any “presentation” nor was it meant to be informative. It was a defensive move …by the whitehouse…to keep the narrative in the news focused on the film/protest gone awry narrative…when even the president himself claims he knew it to be an act of terrorism the day it happened.

CNN should have enough contradictory statements on file from the president at this point to do a montage. But, they appear to be setting this up to be another “Republican” issue…ie., the “angry republicans” taking it out on a “woman” just because they lost an election. Oh boy. Can’t wait.

If she is sent up for confirmation SHE is making herself a target for everything she’s EVER said.
Obama can either serve her up for that or he can pick someone else.

If Obama didn’t know and Rice didn’t know and Hillary didn’t know then why were they so damn sure about blaming the freaking video?

And the other question DrJ would be …given they didn’t know the truth of what happened, for what purpose was Obama sending Rice out to every network? And who briefed her at that point with information that there was no evidence that it was anything other than a spontaneous event off film protests. (*ie., the best evidence they had at the time). And why did that evidence, contradict the president’s own earlier statement in the rose garden…where he claims his intent was to call it an act of terrorism on day 1??