By Ken Dilanian and David S. Cloud, Tribune Washington Bureau –
WASHINGTON — The woman whose complaints sparked an FBI investigation that led to CIA Director David Petraeus’ resignation was identified Sunday as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force base near Tampa, Fla., where Petraeus formerly was stationed.
Military sources identified her as Jill Kelley, who had complained about harassing emails that investigators traced to Paula Broadwell, a married Army reservist who was Petraeus’ biographer, according to military sources.
U.S. officials say the FBI’s investigation of Broadwell’s emails led them to discover explicit messages between her and Petraeus suggesting they were carrying on an extramarital affair.
Also Sunday, members of Congress demanded a fuller explanation of how and when law enforcement agents learned that Petraeus was having the affair.
Petraeus told Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about the situation Tuesday, Election Day, and Clapper urged Petraeus to resign. The White House first learned of the affair Wednesday, officials said, and President Barack Obama accepted Petraeus’ resignation Friday. Key members of Congress found out only hours before the public did.
Kelley, 37, was described as a close friend of Petraeus. Officials have said that Broadwell, 40, considered the woman she emailed a rival for the retired general’s affections.
Broadwell, who has two children, could not be reached for comment.
Kelley and her husband, Scott, issued a statement to The Associated Press Sunday evening: “We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three children.”
Petraeus, one of the most influential military minds of his generation, took the CIA job last year after retiring as a four-star general and having been ground commander of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Broadwell met Petraeus when he gave a 2006 speech at Harvard University, where she was studying for a master’s degree. She decided to make Petraeus’ leadership style her doctoral dissertation topic and, later, to write his biography.
She received special access to Petraeus when he was in charge of U.S. Central Command in Tampa from 2008 to 2010, according to a U.S. officer who served under him.
“She was always in Tampa, sometimes for weeks at a time, and it was always explained that she was writing a book about him,” said the officer, speaking anonymously to discuss an ongoing investigation.
When Petraeus took command in Afghanistan, Broadwell started showing up there periodically too, according to several U.S. officers who served in Kabul. She often stayed for several weeks or more at Petraeus’ headquarters in downtown Kabul, where she received a room at the special quarters reserved for visiting dignitaries.
“She stayed in the Distinguished Visitor residences on base, much like the other traveling gang of think tankers,” said an official who served in Kabul at the time. “She did travel with him a bit too.”
When the biography, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” came out last January, the publisher’s promotional materials said that Broadwell was “afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates, and his longtime friends,” and that she “embedded with the general, his headquarters staff, and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting.”
Petraeus’ resignation sent shock waves through Congress that continued on the Sunday talk shows.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said when Petraeus told her Friday he was quitting over an affair, it was “like a lightning bolt.”
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Feinstein said she wants to know why the FBI didn’t notify the intelligence committees sooner. The incident “could have had an effect on national security,” Feinstein said. “We should have been told.”
Feinstein backed away from her earlier statement that Obama should not have accepted Petraeus’ resignation. “When you realize additional complications … I think he did the right thing,” she said. “I think the president really had no choice but to accept that resignation.”
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who chairs the House intelligence committee, has questions about how the matter was handled, and about the former CIA director’s conduct, a senior committee aide said. Senior FBI and CIA officials are scheduled to brief lawmakers Tuesday, when the government reopens after the Veterans Day holiday.
Petraeus had been scheduled to testify about the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the ambassador. Now, however, acting CIA Director Mike Morrell will present the findings of the CIA’s independent investigation into the incident.
Feinstein said there was “absolutely” no connection between Petraeus’ resignation and the Benghazi attack, but some in Congress disagree.
“I have real questions about this, I think the timeline has to be looked at. I’m suggesting there’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
King, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, said the current timeline “just doesn’t add up.”
Republicans want Petraeus to testify as a civilian. King called him “an absolutely necessary witness.” Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he “would not rule out” calling Petraeus.
