CIA Chief Petraeus resigns as result of extra-marital affair

@Finn dAbuzz,

I imagine they probably are. It looks like they have a rogue FBI agent in Tampa who initiated an investigation at the behest of a personal friend and then took it to another friend in the House who took it to Cantor.

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@JPB,

I'd be very surprised to find out he was authorized to inform anyone in congress.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

You and me both.

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Quote:

The informant was brought to Cantor’s attention by Rep. David Reichert (R-Wash.). Reichert declined to comment on his role in the scandal.

A Cantor aide said Stombres spoke with FBI officials on Oct. 31 to pass on the allegations about Petraeus.

Cantor’s office declined to provide more information beyond saying that the New York Times report “was accurate.”

It is unclear if Cantor told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) or other top House Republicans - including Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (Mich.) - of the allegations surrounding Petraeus.

Read more: here

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Perhaps he consulted the Romney campaign and they nixed the notion.

something in a recent NYT article about the Romney campaign may make more sense with that thought in mind - will have to see if I can track it down

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Meet Jill Kelley - Social liaison (what the hell is that?)

And Broadwell's dad

Yes, I know it's the NYDN
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ap-source-target-emails-petraeus-paramour-state-department-military-liaison-article-1.1200299

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Are you referring to the Bob Woodward article about the Romney campaign allies coming to him with a story about Benghazi?

Bob Woodward Says Romney Allies Brought Benghazi Source To His Home

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@JPB,

Quote:

Meet Jill Kelley - Social liaison (what the hell is that?)

Evidently she plans social parties for the MacDill Air Force Base. I can see why there might have been some peer rivarly between those two sexy women.

1 Reply

@revelette,

Quote:

WASHINGTON — A former spokesman for David Petraeus says the retired general's affair with a female biographer started after Petraeus left the Army.

Retired Army Col. Steve Boylan told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Petraeus' wife of 38 years, Holly, is "furious" over the matter. Boylan also in said in an interview that Petraeus' affair with Paula Broadwell ended four months ago. Petraeus, who has resigned as CIA director, acknowledged the affair in a letter to agency employees.

"He deeply regrets and know how much pain this causes his family," he said. He said the affair started about two months after he began as CIA director in September 2011. "This kind of evolved over time," he said. He added the relationship was a "colossal mistake."

Boylan, appearing Monday on ABC, said Petraeus' wife "is not exactly pleased right now. Furious would be an understatement."

Boylan, who says he spoke with Petraeus over the weekend, told NBC's "Today" show that Petraeus is "devastated." Boylan says "it's going to take a long time" for him to set things straight at home.

source

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I'm somewhat torn about the inform Congress thing. It seems Petraeus was found by the FBI of not being guilty of anything that compromises his duty to the US. The FBI is not supposed to be in the business of enforcing Petraeus's duty to his wife, so what is there to report? That one low level employee is sending harrassing emails to another? That hardly warrants a Congressional notification. The flip side is this guy is the head of the CIA and could be a blackmail target, but I would think the FBI would really want to have its ducks in a row before rolling this one out. Saying "Petraeus is having an affair; we'll get back to you on the details" would create a firestorm of speculation. If the FBI saw no risk to national security and decided to take their time on this one, I don't see any fault. Now if the President knew a month ago and didn't notify the House Intelligence Committee, they might have a complaint.

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@engineer,

Quote:

The flip side is this guy is the head of the CIA and could be a blackmail target, but I would think the FBI would really want to have its ducks in a row before rolling this one out

From everything I've read about the woman involved in the affair, she sounds very ambitious. So there is the possibility she was using Petraeus, and her relationship with him, for all sorts of reasons--to gain inside information, entrée into situations, contacts of various sorts, etc.--for her own self-promotion. She did get a book, and media publicity, out of it, but there are also hints she had info about the attack on the Libyan embassy, and who knows what else she might have heard, or overheard, when she was with him. And, why was she keeping the e-mails he sent her that revealed their affair? She was the one who could have easily been in a position to blackmail him.

The more I think about it, the more I can understand the bad judgment he showed, as CIA director, to get himself involved in something like this.

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@engineer,

Quote:

I'm somewhat torn about the inform Congress thing. It seems Petraeus was found by the FBI of not being guilty of anything that compromises his duty to the US. The FBI is not supposed to be in the business of enforcing Petraeus's duty to his wife, so what is there to report? That

First as far as I know it is not up to the FBI to make security clearance rulings concerning the head of the CIA and this information should had been reported up the ladder.

During WW2 my father had a security clearance due to his work on the top secret Norden bombsight/B29 bomber and the FBI agents ask all kinds of questions to friends and family including the state of his marriage and if he was loyal to his wife or not.

So I tend to agree with your flip side of this matter IE report the information.

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Timeline

Timeline of events leading up to David Petraeus' resignation:

Spring/early summer: A close associate of Petraeus reports to the FBI that she is being harassed in a series of e-mails.

Late summer/early fall: An FBI investigation allegedly traces communications to Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell.

Two weeks ago: FBI meets with Petraeus to discuss findings of its investigation.

Oct. 27: Rep. David Reichert, R-Wash., asks House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to speak with an FBI source he found credible regarding Petraeus. Cantor speaks to the source the same day. "Eric talked to the person and found him to be credible," says Cantor spokesman Doug Heye. Cantor instructs his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, to alert the FBI director's office about the conversation.

Oct. 31: Stombres connects with the FBI director's office. Asked about the time lag, Heye says the federal government was closed for two days because of Hurricane Sandy. After Stombres spoke with the FBI, "That was the end of our involvement," Heye says.

Tuesday: James Clapper, director of national intelligence, learns of the Petraeus investigation from the Justice Department on election night.

Wednesday: Clapper informs the White House about the situation.

Thursday morning: Petraeus calls White House national security adviser Tom Donilon to request a meeting with President Obama and explains why.

Later Thursday: Obama is briefed by staff and meets with Petraeus in the afternoon. Petraeus offers his resignation. Obama reserves a decision, instead takes the evening to think about it and confer with aides.

Friday: Obama accepts Petraeus' resignation as CIA director during a phone call with Petraeus. Obama immediately calls Petraeus' deputy, Michael Morell, and offers him the job of acting CIA director.

Friday afternoon: White House announces Petraeus' resignation.

Of all the people in Washington DC that Reichert could have spoken to why did he take this to Cantor? Reichert is completing his fourth term in the House. He's no newbie. Why Cantor?

1 Reply

@JPB,

JPB wrote:

Of all the people in Washington DC that Reichert could have spoken to why did he take this to Cantor? Reichert is completing his fourth term in the House. He's no newbie. Why Cantor?

Because Cantor is the House Majority leader and, thus, a member of Reichert's party? I don't see anything unusual there.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Agreed. He was just using the chain of command.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Maybe. Is that the appropriate chain-of-command?

More info -

Quote:

Reichert, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, does not currently sit on any intelligence-related panels, but in the 110th Congress, he was ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment and also sat on a subcommittee dealing with global counter-terrorism.

...

According to a senior House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staffer, Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has been briefed and has serious concerns he feels need to be answered about how the FBI handled the information. FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce will come brief Rogers and Intelligence ranking Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland on Wednesday morning. The two members will then be briefed by acting CIA Director Mike Morrell that afternoon.

Although the FBI is required to inform members of the Intelligence Committees about developments in the intelligence world, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said Sunday she did not find out about the news until Friday, the day President Obama accepted Petraeus’ resignation.More

1 Reply

@JPB,

It's the Republican chain of command.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Its still weird that Cantor sat on the information other than sending it back to the FBI. I would have thought he would have pounced on it in the last days of the presidential election.

Broadwell (what a name) put out a lot of misinformation prior to this scandal and practically bragged about access to classified information.

Paula Broadwell Access To Classified Information Raises Questions

The affair might of ended four months before the emails were sent.

Woman targeted by Petraeus' then-lover wants privacy

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@revelette,

Quote:

The affair might of ended

See, Peevists, it's a perfectly natural phonological mistake. You think that Revelette doesn't know English.

He/She doesn't know much about the myriad crimes of the US, and she/he does everything within his/her power to avoid finding out but that's another kettle of fish.

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@revelette,

maybe he figured the election was lost no matter and felt he could **** on Obama more efficiently by waiting for after the election so that there could be lots of speculation, mud slinging and accusations to muddy up the waters and take Obama's eye off the ball.

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CIA Chief Petraeus resigns as result of extra-marital affair

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