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Subscribe to RSSOfficials say that thousands of emails between General John Allen and Florida socialite Jill Kelley are flirtatious, but the general denies a relationship. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Updated 4 p.m. ET: Allegedly “inappropriate” emails between U.S. Gen. John Allen and the woman who sparked the investigation into CIA Director David Petraeus do not signify the two had an affair, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday.
“There was no affair,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The emails in question could be misconstrued, the official said, predicting that the investigation will prove Allen’s innocence.
Allen, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations that he exchanged “inappropriate” emails with Jill Kelley, a senior defense official told reporters earlier Tuesday.
A difference of opinion appeared to be brewing at the Pentagon about how to characterize the emails, with another official calling them flirtatious.
Kelley, a Tampa, Fla., woman who has acted as a volunteer “social liaison” with military officials at MacDill Air Force Base, inadvertently launched the investigation that led to Petraeus’ resignation by complaining to the FBI about anonymous emails she received. FBI agents traced the allegedly threatening emails to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer.
Emails on 'coming and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns
During the investigation, agents discovered emails between Petraeus and Broadwell that were indicative of an extramarital affair between them, according to government and law enforcement officials.
Petraeus, who was appointed 14 months ago to head the Central Intelligence Agency, announced his resignation on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.
Word of the investigation into Gen. Allen’s involvement came early Tuesday, when U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a statement during a flight to Australia for a meeting with defense officials there, saying that the FBI had referred “a matter involving" Allen to the Department of Defense's Inspector General.
Those who know the two women at the center of General David Petraeus' affair scandal are speaking out. Jill Kelley's brother says she is "dedicated" to her husband, while Paula Broadwell's friend calls her "a pretty great person." NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
“Today, the secretary directed that the matter be referred to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense for investigation, and it is now in the hands of the Inspector General,” Panetta said.
Panetta’s statement did not include specifics, but a senior defense official traveling with him told reporters that Allen “was under investigation for “inappropriate communications” with Kelley.
The official also said the investigation involved some 20,000 to 30,000 pages of material, mostly emails, which were sent from 2010 to 2012, adding that Allen “disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter.”
Later in the day, however, a defense official at the Pentagon told NBC News that the number of emails between Allen and Kelley was inflated.
The FBI eventually discovered that the emails received by Jill Kelley, a close friend of the Petraeus family, were sent by Paula Broadwell. And as they dug deeper, the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus came to light. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
"That is a mischaracterization," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The communications with General Allen were lumped in with a lot of other email traffic."
The official said that the Allens and Kelleys were "family friends," and the emails were written in that manner. Many of the emails were not personal communications between the general and Jill Kelley, the official added, but included Allen's wife. And many were between Allen's wife and Jill Kelley, with General Allen just copied, the official said.
"What we're dealing with is the possible perception of inappropriateness," the official said, but it will become clear that there was no wrongdoing. "This is not at the level of the director of the CIA."
According to a senior U.S. military official, Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson read "a number" of the emails between Allen and Kelley before he advised Panetta to refer the matter to the Inspector General.
"Leon Panetta didn't make this decision lightly," the official said late Tuesday. The emails were more than just calling one another "sweetheart," characterizing them as flirtatious, the official said.
While the emails may not prove an affair or even be inappropriate, they were unprofessional, the official said.
Allen will meet with investigators over the next few days, but then he is expected to head back to Afghanistan to continue in his role as Commander of ISAF, according to the official.
Panetta’s statement said that Allen would remain commander of ISAF during the investigation and that he was “entitled to due process in this matter.”
But Allen’s nomination to take over as head of U.S. forces in Europe and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, was put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined,” Panetta said.
ISAF via Reuters file
Meet the people who have been pulled into the scandal that caused Gen. David Petraeus to resign.
Allen was in Washington, D.C., preparing for his Senate confirmation hearings which were originally scheduled for Thursday, NBC News reported.
Allen had no advance warning about the investigation, a close aide of Allen’s told NBC News. He was alerted to the probe by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey Monday night ET. Allen had a number of meetings scheduled for Tuesday on Capitol Hill, although the aide was unsure if they would take place.
Allen’s connection to the Petraeus investigation also seems to have caught the Defense Department off guard.
“This came as very surprising news, to say the least. No one in the Pentagon is leaping to conclusions just yet,” a senior defense official traveling with Panetta told NBC News. “It's important to review the materials to determine the facts, and it's too early speculate about where this will lead. In the meantime, Gen. Allen needs to focus on the war effort, which he's successfully led since last year.”
The ISAF was also unaware of the investigation until late Monday or early Tuesday, and it declined to comment, in a written statement, referring all questions to the Defense Department.
Allen, a highly decorated officer, took over as ISAF commander in July 2011, and was nominated on Oct. 10 to take over as NATO commander, the same time that his successor at the ISAF was named as Gen. Joseph Dunford.
The confirmation of Dunford, currently assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, is now expected to be fast tracked.
“The secretary has respectfully requested that the Senate act promptly on that nomination," Panetta’s statement said.
NBC News' Courtney Kube, Jeff Black, Ian Johnston and Rachel Elbaum contributed to this report.
Some members of Congress are saying that they or, at the least President Obama, should have been told about the investigation into the director of the CIA while it was going on. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Related content from NBCNews.com:
- Emails on 'coming and goings' of military officials escalated FBI concerns
- Sen. Feinstein: 'We will need to talk to David Petraeus' about Benghazi
- Video: FBI agent search Broadwell's home
- CIA Director David Petraeus resigns, cites extramarital affair
- Video: Petraeus' stunning fall from grace
- Petraeus' biographer under FBI investigation over access to his email, officials say
- David Petraeus a battlefield 'hero' and savvy Washington insider
- Video: A ‘painful’ admission from Petraeus
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Our generals really need a good eye examination! Just take a look at who the generals are after!
Cheating right wingers ,military style
The plot thickens.
Now our enemies knows how to get to our top people: The right Damsel.
A man’s fascination with the camel toe dates back to before I was born. I don’t know when it started.
Fawk you general sir mloser
Fire all these cheating losers,no pensions,just the Briggs,for this ing,,
Another poor slob who isn't getting any. Lose some weight. Take a bath. Shave. Go to the gym. Maybe some nice lady will want to get her mitts on you.
You forgot, "go earn some money and get rich."
WHO KNEW that the people that Republicans said felt they were "entitled to stuff" were actually older, white male Generals?
Stuff?
Plenty of bad behavior to go around it seems. It is amazing that when sex comes into a situation, all good sense seems to fly out the window. Childish and silly with terrible consequences--poor Mrs. Petraus and their children (even if grown). Humiliating. And Broadwell has a husband and young children. And Allen, and some idiot FBI agent who evidently has some "connection" to Kelley--frankly an email telling someone to "stay away from my man" doesn't seem to me to rise to the level of "threatening"--at least not at the FBI level. And what moron adulterer threatens another potential adulterer? What if the wife had emailed Broadwell and said stay away from my husband, or Broadwell's husband had emailed Petraus and said as much or emailed his wife and said keep your husband away from my wife? This is all too much.
It's like this libby - Google "species that mate for life" and you will find a bunch of lists. You won't find humans on any of them!!
The gray wolf mates for life. Bald eagles, beavers, condors, swans, pigeons, coyotes and bats. About 3% of the 4,000 species of mammals mate for life.
And there is some real cofusion about the words love and lust. Love is the way you feel about your children or your dog. Between men and women, it starts out as lust and sometimes doesn't go past this. I am an expert on this subject and am thinking about writing a book. I'll give you a taste here.
When young people get married, they think they know how things will be after they are married. While there is an infinite number of ways it might be after marriage, the only thing that isn’t possible is the way they think it will be. It hasn’t been that way for anybody since the beginning of time.
Add to that that some species of apes (heaven forbid) are just like humans in that they don't have to wait for mating season or marriage to couple.
From the 50,000 ft view, this is the result of a Harvard Professor President filling positions for political favors and political paybacks. After the Libyan consulate attack, to take 24 hours to have the US military to get to the site - or to have 20 hrs for a State Department "Crisis Response Team" to get there from bases in Croatia and Sicily - shows the all around INCOMPETENCE of the Obama Administration! Libya isn't the South Pole! Petraeus at CIA and Panetta as Secretary of Defense are just the latest examples of lax oversight, poor recruiting, and bad management by Mr. Obama. Hillary Clinton had what experience to qualify her as Secretary of State? Six years of running for office while in office as a NY Senator? Panetta was Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff. The truth about the "Bush Surge" in Iraq was that Sunni chiefs were PAID not to fight, and to sit on the sidelines until we withdrew. Afghanistan surge? We sent Petraeus as Theater Commander, and General McChrystal, along with 37,000 troops to surge against the Taliban in 2009 -2010. They never did! Battles in the South? Yes? Clear cut victories and capture of large areas from the Taliban? No! Obama fired McChrystal, while Hamid Karzai talked of "joining" the Taliban, and Hillary urged a coalition government to INCLUDE the Taliban! A awful mess! American voters - you deserve it!
I think you are higher than 50,000 feet.
Well....Even up close you can't see the Incompetence..?You should,but your blind allegiance to Obama is shocking considering you know of every fault of every Republican or anyone that doesn't agree with your thoughts provided by Obama and the Left Media.But Obama and his Administration could never be involved in a cover-up? Really ?
I'm an independent; not an ideologue. Politicians, military leaders, the clergy and etc. cover up what they do all of the time; it's part of retaining a good public image and whatever power they possess. Bush put Brown as the head of FEMA, Nixon and Reagan covered up scandals, and Clinton had Monica. I don't like incompetence or CYA anymore than anyone else but to say Obama is unique in doing this or he is more corrupt than past presidents is ludicrous. Under Reagan, we had more US Marines killed that at any time since the Vietnam War, we attacked an airfield in Grenada that was being built by the Cubans and contracted by a British tourism conglomerate, and we had the Iran-Contra scandal. At least Obama hasn't given amnesty to any government official who broke the law while in office. The model of incompetence was George Bush the Second and the model of efficiency was Bill Clinton (he left us at peace, a budget surplus and cut the size of government). Obama is probably somewhere in between but no worse than anyone else.
In any other country, this would not be a big deal. So what, if a general has an extramarital affair; it was between two consenting adults. Generals are macho individuals who assess a situation, go forward and take risks. It is why they are good at their jobs. Soldiers fight hard, they play hard afterwards and go on to the next battle. AT least, Petraus was not using his rank to force a woman of lesser rank into submitting to him. Because of this country's hypocritical ideals of morality, a good man loses his job while people who don't pay their fair share of taxes can run for President and some who act like Chicken Little can retain their seats in Congress.
The United States is loaded with religious fanatics. My God would look at Paula and then look at Holly. Then he would say, well, I guess you didn't have any choice.
Yep, I wonder why someone doesn't do a story on all of the businessmen, politicians and, I'm sure, some clergymen who take sex tours of Thailand so they can have sex with children under 16. That would be worth reporting. This story about Petraus smacks of people who want to claim moral superiority while the go about hiding the immoral things they do themselves. I'm not sure if adultery is one of the seven deadly sins but I know greed, sloth and gluttony are. I can't figure how people have the feeling that God smiles on them.
It Smacks of Higher-up people covering their Ass,while using First a Video that had nothing to do with Benghazi Then we have the current sex scandals to deflect from all else that's going on,Obama and his entire Administration need RE-Vetting,all seem to be placed in jobs they have no business holding,Either they are Under or UN-qualified for their current positions and many appear to be un-able to have such authority and clearances due to their ability to be BLACKMAILED thru past stumbles in personal life( many of us couldn't cut the mustard due to skeletons) So let's Test them out using the Obama trick and just start dragging out all their skeletons in the Media like he has done to any of his challenger's have been,so we are not shocked or surprised when we in fact except the fact that a Party Planner cannot do the Job as The Leader of the USA,he can't even seem to hire people that let him in on What the Hell is going on in his own House so to speak,It's down right embarrassing for the World to see or think we have a Circus going on,And The Ring Leader knows not, who is who or What's going on with the Show.As an American not a certain Party we should all be very worried.Go Ahead call me names,it will not make this Administration any less Incompetent.
This wouldn't be a big deal in ANY other country??
You don't get out much, do you?
And keep in mind.. we have not yet heard from General Patraeus' wife.. perhaps he was given a 'Hall Pass' lol (defined -- a 'Hall Pass' is when a wife let's her husband cheat for a specified period of time).
As additional events are released this issue goes beyond a personal family matter; the logistics and other taxpayer funded resources as well as the UCMJ is squarely in play here. Like their subordinates, peers and command these military leaders are responsible for their actions. Keep in mind that no one came forward until
they were caught; there was no unsolicited honorable admission of wrong doing. In order to maintain good order and disciple unlike the rest of the federal government the military must be investigate and punishment in accordance with UCMJ. The other question is how and why did the DOJ and Whitehouse withhold this information for such a long time from the public all the while the re-election played out intelligence concerned notwithstanding; this was damaging to the effort. It looked like this if this scandal was revealed earlier it may have caused interesting political changes...as the soap opera probably more to come.
JH2cents - agreed and I think you're right. Also think there are many more levels to all of this. A wise person suggested that when it comes to politics - when someone points at one thing for you to look at; always consider what you're not paying attention to. . . hmm.
Was there a reason leadership didn't want more military at Benghazi? Were we doing something or dealing/routing something else out of the CIA safe house there that would have been inconvenient to have more people know about?
Those questions still need answers regardless of who was/wasn't stepping out - not green-lighting their behavior, but the affair(s) is only a small piece of larger context. Timing of when info was communicated, etc. all part of the concerns. Now Gen. Allen's conduct and confirmation is in question.
On an addition note:
John Kerry's potential nomination to Secretary of Defense is not at all reassuring; neither is Susan Rice as potential replacement for Hilary Clinton's Secretary of State position. Not nearly enough check and balance as far as the U.S. from U.N. with those two.
Dear NBC,
Please stopped using the word "probed" in sex scandal articles.
Thanks,
Reader
Do you think the word "probing" is a good headline in association with questioning a General? It conjures up -uh- certain images.
LOL
To quote Stephen Wright, "I wonder if women ruled the world if missles would be shaped differently?"
To paraphrase Art Linkletter...Ultra right wing conservatives say the DARNDEST things
While ultra left wing democrats elect the darndest presidents!
Barry Goldwater was probably the most right wing major party candidate (sans the religious fanaticism) of our time as well as George McGovern was the most left-wing. Both of them lost in landslides. Most American citizens are in the middle as was proved in the most recent election. The Tea Party and its wealthy supporters have tried to rend that middle in two and turn the country to the right. It has not worked. If you had studied ideology at all, or any of the -isms, you would see Obama is closer to Lyndon Johnson than he is to George McGovern. Besides, the last President to impose wage and price controls was considered a moderate Republican (Nixon).
Why are these gold diggers ratting out their sugar daddies?
.
The US is about to go over the "fiscal cliff" and all the media can talk about is the sex life of 2 generals.
And Congress persons are going nuts planning "investigations" when they should be working on solving our fiscal problems.
And people wonder why some of us believe the USA is destined to become an economic meltdown.
.
The media is mostly entertainment oriented doubling as a public information hub from time to time.
The real Media IS talking about the fiscal cliff -- you must be watching Fox News.. who are only obsessed with using 'news' stories to somehow 'get' Obama..
And also Fox are obsessed with commentary which bashes more than half of Americans.. (that is bashing anybody who is not presently brainwashed by the stream of lies told on Fox News).
I think the Republicans had some game going here related to Benghazi and it did not work out for them. Eric Cantor knew weeks ago and said nothing. Why??. Petraeus is a Republican...
Ruth, pull your head out, he served under political parties, but was appointed by a dumocrat!
It seems like the media needs to define "inappropriate" in the context of the emails in question.
For example, the media reports have described both the emails between Petraeus and Broadwell as inappropriate and they now describe the emails between Allen and Kelley as inappropriate.
However, when reading news reports, it seems that the term inappropriate is used to define a wide variety of behavior, but not necessarily suggesting that the inappropriate emails were of the same nature.
Without details, there is too much speculation so until a FOIA request is put in place, material from the FOIA reported on, and the investigation is concluded, there seems to be no point in assuming that I have all the information I need to make an educated judgement of how I feel about this story based on the preliminary news reports.
First it was "inappropriate" emails. Then "flirtacious." What do those words even mean? Without actual examples, there is no reason to believe that anything bad was in Anderson's emails. "Inappropriate" is the kind of weasle word that someone uses when they want to slander someone, but their evidence is so flimsy that it would be laughed at.
I don't care if the Jarhead dipped his wick, at his age that would distract him for about 10 minutes. What I care about is that he made the time to send thousands of emails to this Bayshore Boulevard Bimbo. Every breath he took should have been focused on killing the enemy and protecting our troops - not sending anything to a civilian in Tampa.
He clearly lost his focus on many occasions communicating with his pen "pal" rather than looking out for the welfare of our troops.
Get rid of him.
His focus was on his crotch!! as well as hers!!
Mr. Obama, the American people would like to respectfully request that you get a handle on your command. (Not literally, of course, there's been a bit too much handling of late, it appears.)
Oh where, oh where can Obama be?
Perhaps he and Holder are planning their coming out in the near future?
Isn't Obama Holders boss, and Holder is in charge of the FBI?.
Seems like anyone who is a boss, both knows what his immediate subordinates are doing, as well as rely on those subordinents keeping hime informed of serious potential problems??
There is a smell coming up along the Potomac.
It has already been decided that there were no National Security risks involved in this incident.. Sooo,
It's pretty funny.. (but also pretty pathetic) to see the right-wingers twisting in the wind and grasping at straws DESPERATELY trying to tie this sex scandal to Obama and Eric Holder.. hmm.. what do Obama and Eric Holder have in common.. oh yeah.. they're not white.
Fox News on-air no-talents had veins popping out of their foreheads today as they were sweating trying so hard to make this into some kind of Obama conspiracy -- It will be good TV when one of them finally blows a gasket and has an actual Kanipshen right on TV.
Ok some high level idiot ruined his life and the lives of others.
Now what about things that really matter?
What about the 6 trillion in new debt?
What about our energy policy or lack thereof?
What about GM being on the verge of Bankruptcy again after a bailout of 50 plus billion?
What about the De-stabilization of the Middle East through an inept foreign policy?
What about the loss of an Ambassador because of that inept policy?
What about claiming Executive privilege to cover for his AG Eric Holder in the Fast and Furious scandal?
What about usurping the Legislative System of this Country using "Executive Orders"?
What about selective enforcement of immigration laws?
What about cutting 700 billion from Medicare basically crippling the system to support Obamacare?
What about a predicted 525 billion in new taxes on the middle class by 2019 if Obamacare stands?
What about the Fiscal cliff and no willingness to actually put forth a plan other than the continuance of the class warfare rhetoric.
What about the Welfare roles swelling to unprecedented numbers?
What are they doing about more people on food stamps than any time in our nation’s history?
Let go of the BS this Country is still in the same mess it was in before Barry was re-elected.
'Class-Warfare' was declared years ago by the Corporate Class against the people of America.. the folks who had their jobs shipped off to China, India and Mexico by the likes of Bain Capital KNOW that Class Warfare is real.. and that the middle-class has been losing that war.
You can put your head in the sand (go to sleep there) and pretend Class Warfare doesn't exist -- but the middle class folks who have been injured in the war know it's real which is why President Barack Obama decided to be a warrior for the middle-Class.. Someone had too in order to save this country.. (and no Republican stepped up to the plate).
i'm sorry that upsets you.. but someone had to do it -- under Bush this country almost went down the tubes in a way which was un-fixable -- Thank God America elected the right leader to save us from the Republican avarice - and favoring of the rich and the favoring (deregulation) of Wall Street and the Big Banks and Big corporations at the expense of the majority.
Today Republican Bobby Jindal woke up and said the Republicans need to 'stop being the party of stupid' -perhpas it's time for you to wake up and get a clue as well.
I'm glad you think President Barack Obama is able to fix all the problems in this country caused by the Republicans in only the time-frame from November 6th to November 13th. (Even without the help of Congress).
Gosh the Lord our God took 6 days to create the Earth and Heavens .. (and on the 7th day he rested) at least you are giving Pres. Obama one extra day ha, ha.
Jeez, You must have more super-hero expectation of the Presidents abilities than the people who actually elected him to office do.
Your faith and hope in the Presidents super-powers for Change are impressive.. lol
I wish something else would come along so that the media can change direction. This matters to me so little, people cheat on their spouse and this is nothing new. I was in the military and I didn't know a married couple where one of them wasn't screwing around.
Jon, It's nothing but a smoke screen.
Everyone associated with this administration seemss dirty
Of course, The Republican General Patraeus 'seemed clean' when he worked for the Bush Administration I'm sure.. he only now 'seems dirty' because he works for the Democratic President Barack Obama.. lol.
They say perception is reality.. and that is what you perceive .. so I guess that is your reality.. so my friend, keep living in your own dirty fantasy world -- just don't drag the rest of us (who are actually living in reality) into it please.
You're still out of your mind, I see.
Would love to see your proof.