Petraeus scandal investigation expands - San Francisco Chronicle

Washington --

The sex scandal that led to CIA Director David Petraeus' downfall widened Tuesday with word the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with another woman involved in the case. Some of the material was "flirtatious," an official said.

Even as the FBI prepared a timeline for Congress about the investigation that brought to light Petraeus' extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed that the Pentagon had begun an internal investigation into e-mails between Gen. John Allen and a Florida woman involved in the case.

Some of the 20,000-plus pages of documents and e-mails between Allen and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley were "flirtatious," according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly. It wasn't immediately clear who wrote the flirtatious notes - Allen, Kelley or both.

Nomination on hold

Allen succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011, and his nomination to become the next commander of U.S. European Command and the commander of NATO forces in Europe has now been put on hold, as the scandal seemed certain to ensnare another acclaimed military figure.

It was Broadwell's threatening e-mails to Kelley, a Petraeus family friend, that led to the FBI's discovery of communications between Broadwell and Petraeus indicating they were having an affair. Petraeus acknowledged the affair when he resigned from the CIA post on Friday.

In the latest revelations, a Pentagon official traveling with Panetta to Australia said "inappropriate communications" - 20,000 to 30,000 pages of e-mails and other documents from Allen's communications with Kelley between 2010 and 2012 - are under review. The official would not say whether they involved sexual matters or whether they are thought to include unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He said he did not know whether Petraeus is mentioned in the e-mails.

Allen has denied wrongdoing. He was due to give Panetta a recommendation soon on the pace of U.S. troop withdrawals in 2013. If Allen was found to have had an affair with Kelley, he could face charges of adultery, which is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Who was told?

The Petraeus case has sparked an uproar in Congress, with lawmakers complaining they should have been told earlier about the probe that has roiled the intelligence and military establishment.

The issue of what the FBI knew, when it notified top Obama administration officials, and when Congress was told, has brought criticism from lawmakers, who say they should have been told earlier.

The White House wasn't informed of the FBI investigation that involved Petraeus until election day, although agents began looking at Petraeus' actions months earlier, sometime during the summer.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., complained that she first learned of the matter from the media late last week, and confirmed it in a phone call to the then-CIA director on Friday.

That was the same day Obama accepted Petraeus' resignation, and the 60-year-old retired Army general, who headed U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan before taking charge of the CIA, acknowledged an affair with Broadwell, and expressed regret.

The FBI also looked into whether a separate set of e-mails between Petraeus and Broadwell might involve any security breach.

The Petraeus affair - the cast of characters

David Petraeus

A four-star Army general lauded for his leadership of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Petraeus, 60, moved into the civilian world to become CIA director in September 2011. He shocked official Washington on Friday by resigning and admitting an extramarital affair with his biographer.

Paula Broadwell

The other woman. Now a 40-year-old author and married mother of two young children, she met Petraeus while she was an Army reservist and graduate student at Harvard in 2006. She later embarked on a case study of his leadership of the Iraq war. After he took the helm in Afghanistan, Broadwell expanded her work into a biography, gaining unprecedented access to Petraeus and his commanders.

Jill Kelley

All threads in the story trace back to this Tampa, Fla., socialite. A surgeon's wife and mother of three, Kelley is a self-appointed social ambassador for the nearby U.S. Central Command. She befriended Petraeus and his wife, Holly, when he took over Central Command in October 2008. In May, Kelley started getting anonymous, harassing e-mails warning her away from Petraeus. She reported the e-mail to the FBI. The FBI traced the messages to Broadwell, uncovering her affair with Petraeus.

John Allen

The four-star Marine general followed in Petraeus' footsteps at Central Command and then as Afghanistan commander. The Pentagon is reviewing 20,000 pages of documents and e-mails involving Allen, who is married, and Kelley. His nomination as European NATO commander has been put on hold by the president.

Source: Associated Press