While the world of celebridom has been moving along just fine a scandal has been rocking the top offices of U.S. Government and each day reveals a new seemingly incredible layer. At the center of this novel and made for TV film in the making is none other than General David Petraeus, who is was the head of the CIA. Yes. As in the guy who ran the Central Intelligence Agency.
As of this post we’ve got an affair with a biographer, emails from an unnamed shirtless FBI agent, a socialite in fear of the biographer, the Attorney General, the House Majority Leader, The President… I think we need to break this down!
General David Petraeus is unanimously appointed as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency after an illustrious 37 year career in the military.
Petraeus is alleged to have begun an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell. Broadwell is a former Army Reservist and doctoral researcher. Both Petraeus and Broadwell were married at the time of the indiscretions.
The FBI discovers that Broadwell has been sending threatening emails to one Jill Kelley, who is a family friend of Petraeus and is also married. There’s no indication that Kelley was involved romantically with Petraeus but none-the-less Broadwell felt threatened by her. Kelley alerted a friend who worked for the FBI about the emails which began an investigation.
Caught Up in the David Petraeus Scandal
During the inquiry nearly 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails were discovered between Kelley and Marine General John Allen. Allen is the top commander in Afghanistan and is a nominee to become the next Supreme Allied Commander of NATO for Europe. There have been different statements from sources in regards to whether or not the communications between Kelley and Allen were inappropriate. Terms such as “sweetheart” were alleged to have been used but one solid source claims that Allen denies any affair. Allen is married and is said to be “embarrassed” by the communications.
Further complicating matters (as if that seems possible at this point) the friend of Kelley in the FBI was removed from the case because he had sent shirtless photos to Kelly before the probe was launched. After he was removed he informed Rep. David Reichert of the investigation because he feared it was being swept under the rug by the FBI. Many are speculating that this unnamed FBI agent is a strong Republican Party supporter and was convinced that the FBI was covering up the case to save face for Obama until after the presidential election.
Reichert forwards this information to Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader (and one of the most powerful Republicans in office) on October 27.
Meanwhile, the affair between Petraeus and Broadwell is thought to have ended. The FBI also discovers that Petraeus was sending Broadwell emails via a pseudonym email account that included communications that were sexually explicit in nature.
The FBI notified Attorney General Eric Holder that they were investigating and possibly seeking charges against Broadwell in relation to her threats against Kelly or any possible illegal interactions that may have happened between Broadwell or Petraeus.
Broadwell is interviewed by the FBI and confesses to the affair while also turning over her personal computer.
Petraeus is interviewed and admits to the affair with Broadwell but denies that he had sent classified information that was found on Broadwell’s computer during the investigation.
The FBI and the justice department discuss their findings for three days and decide that they do not have sufficient evidence to charge either Petraeus or Broadwell with any criminal activity.
At 5pm on November 6th, as results were starting to roll in on the national stage for the presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is informed of the investigation. On Wednesday evening he forwarded information to the White House that Petraeus intended on stepping down from his post.
President Obama is informed but does not immediately accept Petraeus’ resignation, choosing instead to let the disgraced general resign the next day.
Now that’s one heck of a story. When the government rocks a scandal they take it next level.
