In a move that shocked a nation still reeling from the election, Gen. David Petraeus resigned from his post as CIA director Friday after admitting to an affair, apparently with his biographer Paula Broadwell. In a letter to his colleagues, Petraeus called the affair “unacceptable” and an exercise in “poor judgment.” Lamenting the unfortunate end to an otherwise shining career, he expressed gratitude for the chance to work with such a great team. “I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you, and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end,” he said. The news tarnished his seemingly picture-perfect 38-year marriage to college sweetheart Holly. Although some conspiracy theorists said it wouldn't happen, Petraeus testified before Congress about the Benghazi attacks on Friday, saying he always knew terrorists were responsible for the attack on the U.S. consulate.
It started with a business card. After meeting Petraeus in 2006 while in post-graduate studies at Harvard, ambitious North Dakota native Paula Broadwell—once the valedictorian and homecoming queen—told him she was writing a dissertation on counterterrorism. Petraeus offered to help. “He gave me his card,” she said. “We kept in touch.” Six trips to Afghanistan and one Petraeus-centered book later, she allegedly sent threatening emails to Jill Kelley, a Tampa woman who alerted the FBI and set off the whole scandal. So who is the woman that apparently wooed the general? According to neighbors in North Carolina: a soccer mom, devoted wife, and extremely fit triathloner. On her Twitter, Broadwell describes herself, among other things, as “an Army vet, runner, skier, surfer,” and lastly “Mom!” In an interview with Inspired Women magazine in February, said she “wears lots of hats.” Nearly flawlessly, it would appear.
When Paula Broadwell sent emails under the alias “Kellypatrol” to Gen. John Allen, she meant to scare him away from a potentially inappropriate relationship with Tampa Bay socialite Jill Kelley. Instead, she exposed a much more scandalous affair: hers. Kelley, 37, an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base and friend of Petraeus, took a stranger’s intimate knowledge of the general’s life to mean he had a stalker. An FBI investigation of the emails revealed something quite different: he had a mistress. Upon learning that her complaint to FBI agent (and friend) Frederick Humphries had spurred a massive investigation, she panicked. It was too late. Still under investigation for her role in the scandal, Kelley has called the police multiple times in the past week asking for protection from the press.
Dr. Scott Broadwell—a radiologist and devoted father—knew his wife lived for adventure. It is part of the reason he married her. What it’s unlikely he knew is the nature of her most recent one—apparently an extramarital affair with famed Gen. David Petraeus. After meeting in the military while the two were stationed in Germany, Paula and Scott “took turns” selecting the cities they lived in. That game eventually landed them in Dilworth, an affluent suburb of Charlotte, N.C., where they currently reside in a spacious home with their two sons, Lucien and Landon. An interventional radiologist who loves to run and ski, Scott Broadwell, Paula wrote on her website, “saved more lives than I have.” Sometimes, to settle arguments, the two launch into a push-up competition—Paula wins.
After 38 years of unwavering support for her husband—Holly Petraeus is getting one heck of a payback. Once described to NPR as a “mom, apple pie, and also a pit bull,” the mother of two—known for her passionate devotion to military-family rights—is now a central figure in an increasingly ugly scandal. Part of one of the military’s “royal families,” David and Holly met in their early 20s at West Point, where her father was superintendent and David a young cadet. The two had an instant connection. “I count my blessings that I accepted a blind date with her 38 years ago,” David said in a speech last May. Born from a family steeped in military service, Holly was allegedly furious to receive the news that her decorated husband was having an affair.
Note to whistleblowers: keep your shirt on. While speculation continues to swirl over how long the FBI was aware of the scandal, fingers point to a longtime friend of Jill Kelley, FBI agent Frederick Humphries, as the one who let it slip. After receiving word of the “anonymous” emails Kelley received, containing specific details of Petraeus’s whereabouts, Humphries became concerned of a major security threat. Suspicious that it was being overlooked for political reasons, he took the matter to Rep. Dave Reichert, and then, eventually, Eric Cantor. Shortly after his name made headlines, shirtless photos of the 47-year-old surfaced on the Internet, leading to questions about his own relationship with Kelley. Lawrence Berger, general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, says the two are just friends and that the half-nude photo was a nonsexual joke sent years before.
"I'm worried that someone is stalking the director of the CIA" isn't a call you get everyday. But in mid-October, it's what Rep. Dave Reichert heard on the other line from FBI agent Frederick Humphries. Worried that General Petraeus was being followed, and that the FBI was avoiding the issue because it was "too political," Humphries decided to take the issue to Congressional Republicans. His first call was to Congressman Dave Reichert. Agreeing that the matter sounded serious and urgent, Reichert passed the information to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. So began a serious of events that would reveal much more than Humphries--or Reichert--ever imagined.
After receiving word in October from Dave Reichert that the whistleblower (Frederick Humphries) wanted to speak, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor picked up the phone. “I was contacted by an FBI employee concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised,” Cantor said in a statement. Shortly after, Cantor’s chief of staff, Steve Stombres, made another call—this time to the FBI. Cantor said he took every precaution to ensure that the news reached the ears of the people who needed to hear it. “Director [Robert] Mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security,” he said.
The top commander for the U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen’s alleged role in the scandal was revealed Monday night after the FBI said they are investigating some 20,000 to 30,000 “potentially inappropriate” emails between Allen and Jill Kelley. Kelley, a Tampa socialite, took center-stage in the scandal as the woman who reported Paula Broadwell, the woman having an affair with Gen. David Petraeus, for sending “threatening” emails. In a statement, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Allen would stay in his role while the investigation proceeds, but Panetta said he had asked the Senate to move up the confirmation of Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Allen’s likely successor. President Obama also put Allen’s nomination to be the top commander of NATO in Europe “on hold” while the investigation proceeds.
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Asking one of the most celebrated generals in history to resign from his post as director of the CIA can’t be easy. James Clapper, director of national intelligence—and Petraeus’s boss—was the unlucky man tasked with the job. Discussing the incident Tuesday, Clapper said he told Petraeus, “The right thing to do would be to resign.” His advice wasn’t pain-free. In a follow-up email to the intelligence community shortly after Petraeus’s resignation, he praised the general’s service and friendship. “Whether he was in uniform leading our nation’s troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, or at CIA headquarters leading the effort to generate intelligence used to keep our nation safe,” Clapper said, “Dave inspired people who had the privilege of working with him.” Clapper’s next task involved notifying the president’s national-security staff of the incident. Just another day at the office.
With Petraeus’s resignation, there’s a new sheriff in town. Luckily, Michael Morell’s had practice. When Leon Panetta resigned as CIA director in 2011, then-deputy Morell stepped in, holding the position of standing director until Petraeus took the oath. An Ohio native who originally planned on becoming an economics teacher, Morell probably wouldn’t have believed anyone who had told he would one day be the most powerful man at one of the world’s premier intelligence agencies. But after 32 years in the CIA—amid controversy, failed missions, and messy wars—at least he knows what he’s in for. “Now the man behind the curtain is the alone at the top.” Is he ready? Let the trial by fire begin.
After a grueling, seemingly interminable campaign, President Obama likely had big plans for the first few days post-election. Accepting the director of the CIA’s resignation probably wasn’t one of them. First informed Wednesday night that Petraeus was considering stepping down, Obama did not get wind until Thursday morning that he had officially submitted the request. After meeting with the former general Thursday, the president accepted the resignation Friday. Accolades streamed in for the decorated general when word broke that he had stepped down. The newly reelected president praised his “extraordinary service” and said Petraeus had made America “safer and stronger.” Quelling fears of a possible security breech, the president announced Wednesday that he has seen "no evidence" of national security threatened.
