Woman at center of US general's sex scandal asked for protection
Source: Agencies |
November 15, 2012, Thursday
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WHEN news vans camped outside her stately home, a Florida socialite tied to the sex scandal around US General David Petraeus tried to use her unofficial credentials as a social ambassador for top military brass: She asked police for diplomatic protection.
In the emergency phone call, Jill Kelley, a party hostess for leaders of the US military's Central Command, cited her status as an honorary consul general while complaining about the media that had descended on her two-story home overlooking Tampa Bay.
"You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well," she said in the call on Monday.
Nearly all lines in the increasingly tangled sex scandal involving Petraeus lead back to Kelley, the daughter of a Lebanese-born couple whose complaint about anonymous, threatening e-mails triggered the FBI investigation that led to the retired general's resignation on Friday as director of the CIA. Now Kelley is in the middle of an investigation of the top US commander in Afghanistan over alleged "inappropriate communications" between the two.
Kelley's friendship with Petraeus and his wife began when the general arrived in Tampa about 2008. Kelley and her husband, Scott, a cancer surgeon, had moved to the area a few years earlier and threw a welcome party at their home, a short distance from Central Command headquarters, introducing the new Central Command chief and his wife, Holly, to Tampa's elite, according to staffers who served with Petraeus.
Kelley also met General John Allen while he was at Central Command, and now investigators are looking at 20,000-plus pages of documents and e-mails between Kelley and Allen, some of which have been described as "flirtatious." The general has denied any wrongdoing.
Kelley has taken a low profile since Petraeus' affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became public.
Petraeus' affair with Broadwell was discovered after Kelley told an FBI agent friend she had received e-mail warning her to stay away from Petraeus. The e-mail turned out to be from Broadwell, who apparently regarded Kelley as a rival for Petraeus' affections. Kelley's family and Petraeus aides have said Petraeus and Kelley were just friends.
Meanwhile, Petraeus has indicated his willingness to testify this week before Congress on the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US ambassador was killed. The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said yesterday no date for the testimony has been set. She added the testimony will be limited to the Benghazi attacks.
Also, the chairman of a key congressional oversight committee has demanded an explanation from the FBI and Justice Department for why they did not provide early warning of an investigation into Petraeus.
In letters to Federal Bureau of Investigation chief Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith expressed concern over the failure to notify key administration officials earlier.
The FBI reportedly began the investigation as early as June.
In the emergency phone call, Jill Kelley, a party hostess for leaders of the US military's Central Command, cited her status as an honorary consul general while complaining about the media that had descended on her two-story home overlooking Tampa Bay.
"You know, I don't know if by any chance, because I'm an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well," she said in the call on Monday.
Nearly all lines in the increasingly tangled sex scandal involving Petraeus lead back to Kelley, the daughter of a Lebanese-born couple whose complaint about anonymous, threatening e-mails triggered the FBI investigation that led to the retired general's resignation on Friday as director of the CIA. Now Kelley is in the middle of an investigation of the top US commander in Afghanistan over alleged "inappropriate communications" between the two.
Kelley's friendship with Petraeus and his wife began when the general arrived in Tampa about 2008. Kelley and her husband, Scott, a cancer surgeon, had moved to the area a few years earlier and threw a welcome party at their home, a short distance from Central Command headquarters, introducing the new Central Command chief and his wife, Holly, to Tampa's elite, according to staffers who served with Petraeus.
Kelley also met General John Allen while he was at Central Command, and now investigators are looking at 20,000-plus pages of documents and e-mails between Kelley and Allen, some of which have been described as "flirtatious." The general has denied any wrongdoing.
Kelley has taken a low profile since Petraeus' affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became public.
Petraeus' affair with Broadwell was discovered after Kelley told an FBI agent friend she had received e-mail warning her to stay away from Petraeus. The e-mail turned out to be from Broadwell, who apparently regarded Kelley as a rival for Petraeus' affections. Kelley's family and Petraeus aides have said Petraeus and Kelley were just friends.
Meanwhile, Petraeus has indicated his willingness to testify this week before Congress on the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US ambassador was killed. The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said yesterday no date for the testimony has been set. She added the testimony will be limited to the Benghazi attacks.
Also, the chairman of a key congressional oversight committee has demanded an explanation from the FBI and Justice Department for why they did not provide early warning of an investigation into Petraeus.
In letters to Federal Bureau of Investigation chief Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith expressed concern over the failure to notify key administration officials earlier.
The FBI reportedly began the investigation as early as June.
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