Breaking News: General Petraeus Resigns as CIA Director

Cites extra-marital affair as the reason (ouch). His statement (just read on-air by Andrea Mitchell), says that he went to the President last night and the President accepted his resignation. The inside-the-Beltway chatter says that some guy named Morrell at CIA will probably take over as the next Chief. Petraeus and the President have never liked each other.

• Over at Daily Koz, they're saying that Andrea Mitchell practically had a breakdown when she was reporting this. Can't wait to see the video.

• He was there all of 5 minutes.

• He was head of the CIA for one year and two months - which is not exactly a minute.

• Whore.

• Say what you will about Andrea Mitchell, she's gotten better at this and isn't nearly the troll she was for eons. Her show does seem to break almost every big story!

• Obviously he was being blackmailed.

• What channel is she on?

• It [italic]had[/italic] had to be something unsavory. How would this be handled if he were still active duty? Isn't adultery against regulations? WASHINGTON -- CIA director David Petraeus unexpectedly resigned Friday, citing “poor judgment” after engaging in an extramarital affair. In a statement sent to CIA staff, Petraeus said he had personally delivered a letter of resignation to President Obama on Thursday, which was accepted Friday. “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” Petraeus said. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.” Petreaus, who turned 60 this week, assumed leadership of America’s fabled spy service in September 2011, replacing Leon E. Panetta, who became secretary of Defense. He previously served as top commander in Afghanistan, head of U.S. Central Command, and top commander in Iraq. Petraeus’ wife, Holly, is an official with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A long-time military wife, she was appointed in 2011 as head of the agency’s Office of Servicemember Affairs, which looks out for the financial interests of people in the armed services. White House press secretary Jay Carney, who was holding his regular press briefing as news of the resignation broke, declined to offer any details. But in a statement released later, Obama thanked Petraeus for his “extraordinary service.” "By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end. As director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger,” he said. Obama said he was confident the CIA would “continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission.” Michael Morell, the agency's deputy director, will serve as acting director. “My thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time,” he said. James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, praised Petraeus’ decades of service to the country “in uniform and out.” “Of all the exceptional men and women I have worked with over the years, I can honestly say that Dave Petraeus stands out as one of our nation's great patriots,” Clapper said in a statement.

  http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-david-petraeus-resigns-after-affair-20121109,0,7587178.story

• It seems so silly to lose one's job -career actually, over an extramarital affair. I see the blackmail aspect if it, but still he always was more than competent.

• I watched Andrea Mitchell break the story. She was pretty much in tears, voice shaking, etc. She and whatshisname - Mr. Former Fed Chair - must have been social buddies with Petraeus and one presumes with Mrs. Petraeus.

  OP

• [quote] He was head of the CIA for one year and two months - which is not exactly a minute. It is in terms of being head of such an organisation.

• Wonder who the little home-wrecker is?

• If that's true, R10, should she not have recused herself?

• The Justice Minister in France was fucking 8 (EIGHT) men when she fell pregnant last year. Did she quit? No; because the French are adults and understand what you do in your private life and who you fuck is distinct from how you perform your job. Grow up America.

• DC would be a ghost town if every government official had to resign because of an extramarital affair. If that's the true reason then it's ridiculous.

• He was probably caught fucking his secretary on his desk.

• [quote]I watched Andrea Mitchell break the story. She was pretty much in tears, voice shaking, etc. How did they let her go on the air like that? Really unprofessional.

• That would be Petraeus, r12.

  Della

• I always get him confused with General Grievous.

• Sources state Mitchell was upset because they finally installed mirrors in her dressing room this morning.

• [quote]The Justice Minister in France was fucking 8 (EIGHT) men when she fell pregnant last year. Did she quit? No; because the French are adults and understand what you do in your private life and who you fuck is distinct from how you perform your job. Grow up America. Hey, retard, where were you with Dominique Strauss-Kahn's gang rape. Oh, and then they dropped the entire case. Sarkozy's affair was a big scandal. France was raked over the coals for its outrage over those two scandals after touting itself as so liberal when it came to sex. Don't forget that rape is not a big deal in France. Men, and powerful men, are expected to perform such acts. Learn the history of the country. The women almost never come forward. Why do you think Roman Polanski was granted exile there? Grow up, fuckwad!

• Sounds like Andrea Mitchell may know who personally involved.

• Maybe Andrea Mitchell is the mistress?

• This jerkoff opposed the repeal of DADT because of the 'immorality' of homosexuality. Utter hypocrite.

• Maybe JOHN Mitchell is the mistress...

• This is so not the whole story.

• It was a young man.

• They're always afraid of blackmail and being compromised in the security agencies. They have a zero tolerance policy for agents caught in compromising circumstances. Petraeus is not immune from that policy.

• I know but a regular old boring affair with a woman? Couldn't he and his wife simply have gotten a divorce? Unless it was a female (or male) spy, I don't see what the dingdong deal is.

• How would he know if his paramour is or isn't a spy? The nature of affairs is secretive, so I don't think he went out of his way to have her checked out. I know it's an extreme thought that the head of the CIA would be involved with someone who could damage national security. (well, not really if Judith Exner Campbell can sleep with Sam Giancana and the President at the same time.) Shouldn't the head of an agency be held to the same standards as his or her charges?

• The mentality of the Cold War is still strong in DC, especially in the security services.

• Honesty and integrity matter, R29. You betray your partner, how do we know you won't betray your President, or your country?

• Does this have anything to do with the GOP harping on Benghazi? Or is that all dead now that they've lost?

• This will just fuel the speculation that the whole Benghazi fiasco was a cover up and he's taking the fall.

• So soon after the election? Somebody has political capital!

• Patraeus: Conduct Unbecoming.

• His wife looks like Miss Piggy and he's a renowned fitness freak. He's probably been cheating for the past several years, but some skank probably threatened to go to the press.

• Faux will continue to froth at the mouth about Benghazi so that they don't have to discuss reality. That prick Issa will hold some hearings in the House, blah blah blah. No biggie. The rest of the country will continue to regret the loss of life in Benghazi and NOT blame it on the President (nor on Petraeus for that matter). Sensible people understand Benghazi for exactly what it was - not what Faux is trying to pretend it was - it's a loser as an issue.

• Breaking news now his female biographer is under FBI investigation for viewing his emails. Guess we know who he was fucking.

• According to Richard Engel, apparently It's not about the affair, it's about the woman, Paula Broadwell, Petraeus's biographer, having improper access to his emails and records when she was working on her book. It's not about Benghazi, although Petraeus will not, at present, be testifying before Congress. Congress of course could subpoena him to testify if it wishes.

• She's probably like 21 or something.

• The General's ho: Paula Shag....I mean, Broadwell

  http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12162

• Interesting link, R42. One of the comments suggests that there had been consideration of Petraeus running for President. So his resignation might have been forced to make sure that someone with a skeleton in his cupboard doesn't become a serious contender.

• [quote]One of the comments suggests that there had been consideration of Petraeus running for President. Mitt's team was floating him as a VP candidate last summer. (He's a Republican)

• [quote]Paula Broadwell on her book "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus" Gee, the porn version's title is already written!

• He had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. You can google her name. She is a research associate at a Harvard academic dept/think tank and a Phd candidate at War College I believe. She spent a lot of time with Petraeus in Afghanistan. She is quite good looking. A million billion times more good looking than his wife unfortunately.

• Thanks, R42 - she's not umm.... compellingly attractive but I'm sure she's a few decades younger than his wife and maybe Paula gives head.

• What the hell is she wearing on Charlie Rose's show? Same for what she wore on the Daily Show. Is it me or are these weird attire choices for a professional woman? They remind me of what Fox bimbos wear. She's from the Suzie Wetlaufer school of biographical writing, I see.

  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-25-2012/paula-broadwell

• Children would only get in the way of our ... [italic]erotic lifestyle![/italic]

  http://aspensecurityforum.org/Websites/aspensecurityforum/images/ASF%202012/Speakers/Broadwell__Paula_new.jpg

• His wife's dad was a four star general. Petraeus is a notorious social climber, so that's why he married that troll.

• The fuschia top falling off her shoulders evokes that alluring Pnom Penh streetwalker effect that drove the General mad with desire.

• That's quite a diamond she's wearing in R49's link. I wonder who that was from?

• Here's Mrs. Petraeus. I mean seriously, can you blame him? Oink oink!

  http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/POLITICS/01/06/holly.petraeus.appointment/story.holly.petraeus.gi.jpg

• He did not resign because he was screwing that skank. There is definitely more behind this.

• Holly Petraeus lives at 538 Wyman Way! She weighs 300 pounds and is an alcoholic! She eats an entire cake in one sitting! You should see her stretchmarks! Because of her drunkenness, both of her children are delinquents! She's the hairiest woman I've ever laid eyes on!

  David%20%22Elmer%22%20Petraeus

• Must be her favorite top.

  http://www.aspenideas.org/sites/default/files/pictures/people/Broadwell-Paula_pic.jpg

• R50, the nightly news just showed a photo of Petraeus' wife on the day they were married, and she was beautiful and very attractive. It's sort of rare to see a woman change that much from her 20's to her 50's and 60's. She had really changed horribly and desperately needs a makeover. On her wedding day, she had super long blonde hair, a thin body, and a very pretty face.

• She's not just fat, Mrs. General Petraeus looks downright mean, R53. R54, apparently the FBI is investigating the mistress having had improper access to his computer, emails, files, etc. Presumably these included highly classified CIA and US security information. This creates a major fucking problem for General Petraeus. Despite his resignation, his trouble over his bit on the side is far from over. Ready for Faux to blame the President for not knowing about Petraeus' skank in 3..2..1

  J.E.H.

• Oh, Larry Kudolow is whispering that Obama forced him out so he wouldn't testify on Benghazi, and Larry Kudlow is nothing if not a loyal parrot for the Republican talking point of the day.

• Does he wear a rug?

• Quit the CIA because he's having an affair? No. I don't think so. He probably did something really horrendous and Obama let him use this stupid excuse for leaving an organization that tortores people and has no morals. Now come on? How absurdly ridiculous is this excuse?

• "Broadwell, who attended Harvard University, is married and lives with her husband and two children in Charlotte North Carolina, according to her website

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2230697/David-Petraeus-resigns-head-CIA.html#ixzz2Bm41IV7b

• R57, looks like menopause hit her hard, plus she isn't a tall woman who could easily absorb middle-aged weight gain.

  http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/09/article-2230697-15F17CDD000005DC-209_634x364.jpg

• In R63's picture, David is not exactly swoon worthy. Actually they kind of look like an ugly brother and sister.

• [quote] [R54], apparently the FBI is investigating the mistress having had improper access to his computer, emails, files, etc. Presumably these included highly classified CIA and US security information. Like the emails regarding Benghazi. Faux was breaking a lot of info about Benghazi that seemed to be coming from a classified source. Looks like the administration found the source(s), baby. It was Patreus and his gal pal.

• [quote] Is it me or are these weird attire choices for a professional woman? They remind me of what Fox bimbos wear BINGO! You get the prize. She IS a Fox bimbo who doesn't work for Fox on the official payroll. She attended the military academy. Petraeus never really got along with Obama. I think Obama gave Petraeus the CIA job in one of those "keep your enemies closer" moves. Someone's been feeding Fox official Info. Guess who it is?

• Apparently she wanted to end the relationship and the General went bonkers and sent her HUNDREDS of emails. Can you say mid-life crisis?

• From an article about Fox News that was published by Dan [quote] first noticed it over the whole Benghazi saga. Day after day [bold] Fox would breathlessly unleash yet another leaked cable, or internal State Department memo, exposing failures in the protection of Ambassador Stevens, his staff and his embassy. And I ignored them; firstly because there were so many ”revelations”, [/bold] secondly because they were clearly being pushed as part of a wider political agenda and thirdly, because they were from Fox. And Fox, in my eyes, is synonymous with poor and partial journalism. [quote] But in retrospect, some of what Fox was publishing was actually – in journalistic terms – solid material. Setting aside the crazy conspiracy theories, it was clear that concerns had been raised about security at the embassy compound. There were legitimate questions to be asked about the nature of the military response once the attack was under way. But these weren’t being asked – to any significant degree – by other media outlets. And they weren’t being asked – in part – because the story was being driven by Fox. Yessiree. Somebody has been feeding Fox highly classified information.

• Well, if he knew she was looking through his materials, he might well go bonkers and deluge her with hundreds of e-mails. Uh, so the commander of the multi-national forces in Iraq and later of Centcom showed such great judgement as to engage in an extramarital affair during wartime in the field, allow his lover to view classified materials and then deluges her with hundreds of e-mails after the break-up? Shit! Shit! Shit!

• Sex scandals in the CIA or FBI are unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.

  J. E. Hoover

• [quote]Sex scandals in the CIA or FBI are unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. But if you simply must do it, wear a red dress.

• I'm not suggesting he should do this, but the Old School ending to this little drama, especially if emails were leaked and security was compromised, would involve the General spending some time alone with his pistol. I would put the odds at 1 in 4.

• New School ending would be Gitmo where he belongs.

• OMG, the ONLY time I ever watched FOX news was today at the Gym when all the networks were breaking the news. CNN and MSNBC were going on and on about his affair. The Fox reporter kept saying they do not know the reason why he resigned BUT it might have something to do with...BENGHAZI GATE!!!!!

  They%20haven%27t%20learned%20yet

• You would think that Fox might tread carefully here. They're still not out of the woods for what News Corp did with the phone tapping and police bribery and all in the UK. If they paid her for anything, or crossed any line here, they could wind up getting burned on this.

• WOW. Will these men in power NEVER fucking learn?

• This letter is very interesting. The second one...

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/a-message-from-beyond.html

• For folks who only get 10 articles per month: MY WIFE’S LOVER [quote]My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me? NAME WITHHELD [quote]Don’t expose the affair in any high-profile way. It would be different if this man’s project was promoting some (contextually hypocritical) family-values platform, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The only motive for exposing the relationship would be to humiliate him and your wife, and that’s never a good reason for doing anything. This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved. [quote]The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable. In fact, it’s so over-the-top honorable that I’m not sure I believe your motives are real. Part of me wonders why you’re even posing this question, particularly in a column that is printed in The New York Times. [quote]Your dilemma is intriguing, but I don’t see how it’s ambiguous. Your wife is having an affair with a person you happen to respect. Why would that last detail change the way you respond to her cheating? Do you admire this man so much that you haven’t asked your wife why she keeps having sex with him? I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person). That’s not ethical, either.

• Paula Broadwell wikipedia Paula Dean Kranz Broadwell (born 1972 or 1973[1]) is an American writer and researcher. She is the co-author with Vernon Loeb of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, a biography and profile of then International Security Assistance Force commander David Petraeus.[2] On November 9, 2012, she was reported to have been involved in the extramarital affair which led to Petraeus's resignation as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.[3] Broadwell grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota, graduating from Century High School in 1991.[4] Broadwell graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1995. She earned a master's degree from the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies.[5] She earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[6] She has served as Director of the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She later entered the Ph.D. program at Department of War Studies at King's College London.[7] She served in the United States Army and is a Major in the United States Army Reserve. Broadwell has written for the New York Times and the Boston Globe. [8][9] Her biography of Petraeus, All In, was published in January 2012. In November 2012, law enforcement officials said Broadwell was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for improperly trying to access Petraeus' email.[10] Broadwell is married to Scott Broadwell, an interventional radiologist. They have two sons and reside in Charlotte, North Carolina. In November 2012, it was reported that Broadwell had an affair with Petraeus, leading to his resignation as director of the CIA.[11]

  http://www.porcelainonsteel.com/wp-content/uploads/gallery/role-models/paula-and-p4.jpg

• Confessing a long time big hard on for Petraeus

• [quote]She earned a master's degree from the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies This is where Condoleeza Rice got her BA and doctorate. I looked at a list of some notable grads and, from what I can tell, the Americans have a very conservative bent. Trying to access the general's e-mail? This should work out very well for this Army Reserve Major.

• [quote]Trying to access the general's e-mail? This should work out very well for this Army Reserve Major. I wonder if he changed the password to his email account but whoever she was working for, maybe Faux News, was demanding she give them more.

• It's scary that a guy who had so much power also had so little common sense and self-control. Thinks With His Dick for one thousand dollars, Alex.

• Wouldn't the most sensitive, classified information be in a cable as opposed to e-mail?

• Am I the ONLY person who doesn't care that he resigned?

• I think most of us don't care that he resigned. We're just fascinated by schadenfreudish car wrecks. You do know where you are, don't you, R85?

• Yes, I get that [R86], which is why I predicted that Ann Romney's "doings" will be following here for a loooooooong time; she's a natural fit for speculation.

• Petraeus is the one who gave a statement and said the affair is the reason for his resignation. That says whatever committee decided on that reason, it was because they want the salaciousness of the story to get our attention rather than the fact that he probably committed treason.

• Here's what happened (so far) - Petraeus was vetted, but not thoroughly enough. (Aside, some heads will roll over that.) WH found out via AG (FBI) about the affair. "Blackmail" word is being tossed about, but people aren't thinking it clearly yet. It wasn't blackmail by the BAD GUYS. WH forced P to push the Mob/video/Benghazi fairytale, which he did - despite having conclusive evidence it wasn't true. He is the source of Susan Rice's testimony, also WH orders. Why he didn't man up and refuse at the time? He's supposed to be so damned smart! These things can only get worse. So, why did he blow it all up now? Reason: they went back to the well once too often, and whatever they wanted him to lie about now was too much even for him. Worse, evidently, than the truth getting out about the affair. As for the wife, the woman is a four-star's wife. She'll be fine. He MAY hate the Mr. Obama so much that he preferred destroying his Presidency rather than simply making it not happen. This is so beyond Nixonian that it will bury all the "gates" forever. We ain't heard nothing yet.

• Nice scenario, Rush. I wish I hadn't left my tinhat in my other car.

• OMG r89 is so full of shit his breath stinks. Benghazi was an attack ON us, not a scandal by us. Jack ass.

• So what you're saying, R89, is that the right wing crumpet and West Point graduate, Paula Broadwell, is a traitor to the United States? Isn't Petraues one of your guys, too? His dick made him a traitor. I know the election didn't turn out so well for you, but it's sad when your heros put their ya yas before national security and betray you.

• R92, I can only imagine how bad the situation had to be that Petraeus was willing to blow up his private life the way he did. I joked earlier about him going to Gitmo. It's beginning to seem likely that he did something that would have landed anyone without his power and connections in federal custody.

• someone must be blackmailing him with his embarrassing emails.

• Petraues is the source of the leaks to Fox. The administration discovered this, called him in and said, "General Petraeus, it appears you have been engaging an affair and your paramour has had access to high level emails and diplomatic cables. Tut tut. Please carefully word your resignation right here on this piece of paper we are handing you for your signature. Heh heh. An assistant will see you to the door."

• Quick reminder: Fucking with the CIA has consequences.

  JFK

• [quote] So what you're saying, [R89], is that the right wing crumpet and West Point graduate, Paula Broadwell, is a traitor to the United States? Isn't Petraues one of your guys, too? His dick made him a traitor. I'm not r89, but it's not treason when you leak documents of well-known past events to news outlets. Deep Throat did it when he leaked to Bernstein and the guy planted at the Washington Post by Naval Intelligence. Oh yeah.... Woodward. And Rove proved it's not treason to leak a CIA agent's ID to the press. The press and the pols work together. There is a right wing press and a non-right wing press. There are right wing pols and non-right wing pols. And there is a right wing CIA and a non-right wing CIA. Petraeus is the source of the leaks. The administration is allowing him the cover of pretense that his gf was the source, since she was probably working with him on this little Benghazi news project. And dat's dah name-ah DAT tune! (using my Robert Blake-as-Baretta voice)

• Since I'm sure the boys at FOX are already crafting elaborate conspiracy theories about this, how about one of our own? I heard that Petraeus was part of a group (mostly military and CIA, but financed by the Koch Bros.) actively engaged in delivering the election to Romney. Specifically, Petraeus was part of the group planning to tamper with the election results in Ohio and Florida and was caught at the last mintute by the FBI (that's why Rove and Romney were both so shocked). How about the mistress being the hero of this story because she has all the emails, the names, the dates and everything else, and has already delivered them to the FBI?

• oh my lord. why is that crazy story SO easy to believe??

  karl%20rove%27s%20freakout%20on%20live%20tv

• r98, did you craft that yourself or is it a real rumor you heard...?

• [quote][R98], did you craft that yourself or is it a real rumor you heard...? Let's think of it this way-- now it's a real rumor YOU heard, so take the ball and run with it. Just give me a "based on an idea by" credit on the screenplay, and consider Anne Hathaway for the role of the girl and Bryan Cranston for the General.

  R98

• [quote]Specifically, Petraeus was part of the group planning to tamper with the election results in Ohio and Florida and was caught at the last mintute by the FBI (that's why Rove and Romney were both so shocked). Petraeus was in possession of voting machine tampering software when the FBI came to his office just prior to his resignation. It is believed the software has the capability of overriding statewide election results. Inside sources are saying that election results in both Florida and Ohio were going to be destroyed and replaced with data that would be downloaded via the software. It is unclear at this time how many other states' election results were going to be targeted.

• A highly rated comment and editor's pick from the NYT article: [quote]I hope the Petraeus family can figure this out and put it behind them. [bold]The General could become a compelling Presidential candidate some day.[/bold] I do hope they can put it behind them. But why does this person believe someone with such poor judgment would make a compelling presidential candidate? Oh, I see. When your reference points are Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Bachmann, and that Rick guy from Texas, Petraeus is a titan in every possible dimension that bears on leadership ability (including intellect). The morally flawed Petraeus, I suppose, is improvement over the morally bankrupt. Repubs, is he your man for 2016?

• Ha, ha. The Daily Mail has picked up on the letter to the NYT advice column and is questioning if Mr. B wrote. And Mr. Broadwell has gayface for daaaayyys.

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2230973/Petraeus-scandal-Did-husband-agony-partners-affair-CIA-chief-NYT-advice-column.html

• I hope this turns into the story that brings Fox News to its knees. It seems highly probable that Petraeus and/or his mistress were behind the leaks to Fox. And perhaps Fox was working with the mistress to gain access to the General's emails. News Corp. certainly has a history of doing just that.

• I haven't watched Fox at all (my cable package doesn't have it). What exactly are they saying that links them to Petraeus' e-mail?

• Mr. Broadwell DOES look like a flight attendant. Why would he have sent that letter to the times, though?

• That letter to the advice editor was a plant. It was meant to be "rediscovered" after Petraeus resigned. Excellent job.

• But to what end, r108?

• And they were worried about gays in the military??? Straight men are the problem, not gay people.

• The husband is adorable.

• Please explain, r108.

• R111, you need to get your eyeglass prescription updated.

• [quote] But to what end, [R108]? Seriously? The "project," the "important effort" and the "mission" referenced in the letter is that of trying to bring down Obama, and/or running Petraeus for president in 2016. Read it again. Why is he continually referencing a future event to take place in "a year or two" which he believes must succeed? What on earth else could it be referring to? The person who wrote this letter is setting it up to show that the husband feels cuckholded, but on the other hand, someone very important to American leadership is involved and is involved in a "mission," an "important effort" and a "project" of great importance scheduled to take place in 2013 or so. It's the Benghazi project. If the husband goes public, the important American leader goes down and his mission fails.

• BENGHAZI??

  oh%20please

• Holy moley! [quote]The collapse of the dazzling career of CIA Director David H. Petraeus was triggered when a woman with whom he was having an affair sent threatening e-mails to another woman close to him, according to three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the episode

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-probe-of-petraeus-triggered-by-e-mail-threats-from-biographer-officials-say/2012/11/10/d2fc52de-2b68-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html

• [quote]The recipient of the e-mails was so frightened that she went to the FBI for protection and help tracking down the sender, according to the officials. The FBI investigation traced the threats to Paula Broadwell, a former military officer and Petraeus biographer, and uncovered explicit e-mails between Broadwell and Petraeus, the officials said. Shit!

• Sounds like the mistress was totally unhinged and sending emails to the wife. The plot thickens!

• Not the wife, according to sources. [quote]The person who complained about harassing messages from Ms. Broadwell, according to the official, was not a family member or a government official. One Congressional official who was briefed on the matter on Friday said senior intelligence officials had explained that the F.B.I. investigation “started with two women.” [quote]“It didn’t start with Petraeus, but in the course of the investigation they stumbled across him,” said the Congressional official, who said the intelligence officials had provided no other information about the two women or the focus of the inquiry. “We were stunned.”

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/us/fbi-said-to-have-stumbled-into-news-of-david-petraeus-affair.html

• So who is woman #2, and why is she powerful enough to get the FBI involved in a nickel and dime drama usually handled by bored city cops on the day shift?

• [quote]The person who complained about harassing messages from Ms. Broadwell, according to the official, was not a family member or a government official. Not family and not a government official. I smell a member of the press. Who was the good general fucking at Fox News?

• Was woman #2 getting threatening emails from a CIA email address, R120? That seems like it would get someone's attention. I wonder if Petraeus was two-timing the mistress with woman #2 and she got wind of it. I knew this one was going to be fun when it first broke. Great drama. Petraeus is a moron. Why am I not surprised?

• You don't have to be powerful to get the FBI involved if you invoke the name of the CIA director and provide some minimal proof of acquaintance. If the sender is unhinged enough to threaten woman #2, the FBI would be correct to think she might harm Petraeus, too.

• Woman #2 is Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

• R124 that's just wrong.

• Really?????????????Do you believe he quitted his job because an affaid!!!!!!!!!!!I think was because Bengazi.The men killed in Lybia worked for CIA and Petraeus lied to the president when the news broke.All that confusion was because Petraeus was lying to the White House.Petraeus is a republican supporter...... I hear Karl from here

• [quote]So who is woman #2, and why is she powerful enough to get the FBI involved in a nickel and dime drama usually handled by bored city cops on the day shift? My name is Bush, Barbara Bush and this didn't work out so well for Mr. Patraeus and that crazy hussy of his.

• Exactly, Betrayus was in cahoots with those who needed to get rid of Obama. Obama should be watched carefully. They could not get rid of him through the vote, lets face it...he could be another Kennedy.

• [quote]Paula Broadwell, whose affair with the nation’s C.I.A. director led to his resignation on Friday, was the valedictorian of her high school class and homecoming queen, a fitness champion at West Point with a graduate degree from Harvard, and a model for a machine gun manufacturer. [quote]It may have been those qualities — and a string of achievements that began in her native North Dakota, where she was state student council president, an all-state basketball player and orchestra concertmistress Paula Broadwell is the kind of person Sarah Palin wishes she were (or maybe thinks she is, in her own diseased mind).

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/us/linked-to-petraeus-paula-broadwell-is-lifelong-high-achiever.html?src=me&ref=general

• Paula Broadwell, a former military officer Isn't she still a miIitary officer? I thought she was in the reserves, but I might be basing that on an outdated interview. She looks almost exactly like my very VERY borderline personality cousin. Over the borderline, in fact. Was her husband military?

• r126 you are insane, plus, "quitted"?!

• I was thinking more along the lines of ESL, R131.

• R91 and R92 have reading disorders.

• [quote] Mr. Broadwell has gayface for daaaayyys... He sure does. Why did she marry him? She's obviously a GI groupie & he's obviously gay -- what in the world brought them together?

• maybe they are both spies.

• She isn't a GI groupie, she is a GI, R134. She's screwing within her own social group.

• OK, from Tinhat Central. It's long, but it's worth it: Obama Topples Top Coup Leader After Washington Gunbattle By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers The Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) is reporting today that President Barack Obama has accelerated the purge of US Military officers involved in a coup against his regime by the “firing in disgrace” of former Four-Star Army General and current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) David Petraeus According to this report, after his refusal to meet at the White House with Obama this past week, US Federal Forces loyal to the President stopped General Petraeus’ vehicle in DuPont Circle in Washington D.C. yesterday (Friday) morning whereupon a short gun battle ensued (Washington D.C. police are reporting this incident as an attempted robbery). General Petraeus was, then, apprehended, brought before Obama and forced to resign in disgrace over his supposedly admitting to an extramarital affair. General Petraeus’s toppling follows similar attacks by the Obama regime in the past 3 weeks that has seen the unprecedented ouster of many top US Military leaders including Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette, US Army General Carter Ham, Brigadier General Jeffery A. Sinclair, and US Navy Commander Joseph E. Darlak, all of whom we had previously reported on in our reports “Obama Coup Plot Slams Into Russia” and “Obama Fires Top Admiral As Coup Plot Fears Grows.” GRU analysts in this report say that Obama’s moves against his rebellious military most closely resembles those actions taken by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 against those involved in what is now referred to as “The Business Plot” engineered by wealthy American businessmen who were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow the US government. Under great pressure to jail and charge with treason many top US Military officers after the failed 1933 coup attempt, this report says, Roosevelt, instead, opted to simply oust those Generals and other high-ranking officers in order to spare his country the turmoil such a revelation would cause among the American people. Most ominous, however, in this report is it, likewise, comparing Obama’s ouster of General Petraeus to the 1961 firing of CIA Director Allen Dulles (1893-1969) by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). Though never proven, it is believed by many that Dulles ordered the assassination of Kennedy after a cryptic assassination directive was found in a leaked document in 2009, and in what can only be termed as ironic, Dulles was a central member of the Warren Commission investigation into Kennedy’s assassination that blamed this shocking murder on a “lone gunman.” Unbeknownst to General Petraeus, or the other coup-plotters, this report continues, Obama had ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin conducting covert human and electronic surveillance against hundreds of US Military officers when this coup plot was discovered. The coups “master plan”, this GRU report says, was for US Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney to be assassinated just prior to the 6 November election whereupon General Petraeus would become the Republican candidate under their party’s rules allowing him to be put into Romney’s place by a majority of State Representatives as allowed under RNC party rules. If such a scenario were allowed to occur, this report continues, General Petraeus would have most certainly became the next President of The United States due to his unprecedented popularity with the American people. Important to note is that the only US mainstream media outlet attempting to report on this coup attempt was the magazine GQ, who in an article this past week, written by Marc Ambinder, detailed the massive security forces ordered by Obama to be put around both himself and Romney during the final weeks of the election and the many assassination attempts that were, likewise, foiled.

  http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1626.htm

• I know you guys want very badly to make this about the repulfuckunts, Fox news and the fat guys, but it just isn't. He quit and will lawyer-up instead of testifying about Libya. Why? If he was the source of the lies, why? They helped the administration. They knew about the affair and sat on it. Why? This will overwhelm the President's second term. So much more to come out. And watch how fast the Mr. Obama's media allies turn on him when there are Pulitzers involved. Ditto the U.S. Senate, et tu?

• How long until this shows up on a "ripped from the headlines" Law & Order:SVU? [quote]Paula Dean Kranz Broadwell Paula Dean? Seriously? [quote]Does he wear a rug? Just a merkin. [quote]Gee, the porn version's title is already written! I prefer "Rock Me, Dave Petraeus!"

• How weirdly vague--the other woman wasn't an employee and wasn't a family member. I assume that R121 is right and the good general had yet another woman in his, her clutches. Who could it be. I hope to god this doesn't overwhelm the second term. We don't need it to--we have such real problems that need our attention. But I agree that much more is going to come out.

• It might spend a lot of time on the news. They need something big to fill the time the election used to take up. It also helps that it's sexy after a dry campaign season with very little titillation. Even so, I don't see why it would hurt BO directly if a political opponent at the CIA can't keep it in his pants. BO's people are probably figuring out how to distance themselves already.

• Hank Greenberg is the person who "noticed" this letter from July to the NY Times sounded like the situation of the husband of Broadwell. Greenberg is a CNBC employee who is close to Larry Kudliw and who was being investigated by the SEC when suddenly, Christopher Cox --- the Dubya-appointed SEC chairman and former member of the Reagan administration -- stepped in and chilled the investigation. Curiouser and curiouser.

• Herb Greenberg. Sorry.

  R143

• There's crazy stuff in the link at R137. That said, all the military officers mentioned really were relieved of duty in the last month. Here one, you can Google the rest: In an unusual move, the Navy has replaced an admiral commanding an aircraft carrier strike group while it is deployed to the Middle East. The replacement was prompted by an Inspector General’s investigation of allegations of inappropriate leadership judgment. Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette, the commander of the USS John C. Stennis strike group, is being returned to the United States for temporary reassignment. In a statement the Navy said it had approved a request made by Vice Adm. John W. Miller, the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, to temporarily reassign Gaouette “pending the results of an investigation by the Navy Inspector General.” The statement said Gaoutte would return to the carrier’s home port of Bremerton, Washington. A Navy official familiar with the circumstances of the investigation said it involved allegations of “inappropriate leadership judgment” and stressed it was not related to personal conduct. The Stennis group arrived in the Fifth Fleet’s area of operations on Oct. 17 to replace the USS Enterprise, which was on the final deployment of its 50 years of service. The allegations are recent and were made within the last couple of weeks.

  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/navy-replaces-admiral-leading-mideast-strike-group-because-of-ongoing-investigation/

• Damn, it is starting to look like an attempted coup.

• Betrayus Petraeus.

• That stuff at R137 makes my head hurt. in the article they mention a robbery attempt near the White House, supposedly part of the coup and not vanilla robbery attempt as the article suggests. However what I don't understand is why an article about a plain old robbery attempt garners nearly 600 cooments. Weird.

• cray-cray

• I can't wrap my head around some of this. But let's say there were plans of coup, maybe Obama's extension of the Patriot Act and whatever other citizen spying laws there are were really to catch a plan like that.

• Someone has watched "Seven Days in May" one time too many.

• wow, r149 that is an interesting idea.....

• So, did they plan to overthrow Obama or Romney? If it were Romney the coup would have been dropped the moment Romney lost, right?

• Diane Feinstein told the president not to accept his resignation.

• One thing, they always seem to underestamate Obama. They are so full of themselves...they were punked in Iraq by the Iraqis. We were all punked in Afghanistan...the whole world has a good laugh at our stupidity. We always think we are playing cowboys and indians while the rest of the world is playing mind games...we are playing with our guns and bombs.

• Do you know why, R153?

• R153, Diane said she wished the president had not accepted the resignation, but understood. Big difference from TELLING the president herself.

• [quote]The Justice Minister in France was fucking 8 (EIGHT) men when she fell pregnant last year. Now THAT'S a whore, darlin!

• Diane's comment, which made all the news stations, makes it look like this decision was 100% Petraeus to make. Whether it was or wasn't, Diane's comment heard round the nation, makes the whole thing sound so cut and dry. We know it is not cut and dry.

• Thanks, R156 / R158. She's in a position where she has probably been asked to be discreet right now.

• These are top scenarios! Thanks.

• the FBI uncovered Petraeus' affair by chance. They were investigating harassing emails that the mistress had sent to a woman. what an idiot.

  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/blog-summaries/267215-fbi-uncovered-petraeus-affair-by-chance

  catfight

• Technically anything that you can get blackmailed with can comprimise your job at the CIA or FBI.

• Judging by Feinstein's comment, and the fact that Petraeus wasn't the target of the investigation, I say there's no conspiracy or bigger scandal below the surface. Even Obama didn't accept his resignation at first and told him to sleep on it. If there was a big scandal, Obama would not have said that. He simply had an affair, or affairs, and got caught with his pants down. Since he's head of the CIA, he had to resign. End of story.

• sorry. now i see someone posted earlier about the harassing emails. i wonder if andrea mitchell knows the woman who reported the harassing emails and that's why she was shaken when reporting it. what if andrea mitchell was the other woman?

  came%20late%20to%20the%20catfight

• Just look at the timing (after election) and read between the lines for the REAL reason.

• Petraeus pledged fealty to Romney, r165?

• He resigned after the election so it wouldn't hurt Obama in the election.

• It's going to be interesting to see what the Sunday morning political shows have to say.

• r167 has it. There is a code of conduct in the military. You can't ask your rank and file to follow that rule if a leader is busted for it.

• Read up on Allen Dulles, CIA head who was a serial cheater. Everybody knew; nobody cared. When DC wants to turn its collective head and ignore affairs, it does. There's more to this than emails to another woman.

• The FBI thought Petraeus' personal email account which is separate from his CIA email account had maybe been hacked into so they investigated. The front page at washingtonpost.com says right now that Clapper who is Obama's security chief asked Petraeus to resign before Clapper even notified officials at the White House about the affair and investigation into Paula Broadwell.

• Holy crap!!

• I'm not buy the military vs Obama story. Military personal gave to Obama's campaign more than any other time this election. This doesn't gel.

• I always thought "General Petraeus" sounded like a made-up name. A comic book villain, or the evil mastermind in a Bond movie.

• He should probably resign just because he was the head of the damned CIA and he couldn't keep the fact that he was having an affair a secret. If he can't handle that, he isn't qualified to run a worldwide intelligence network.

• Haven't you heard in your neck of the woods, R175?

• As someone posted upthread, 4/5 recent DCIs have had affairs and/or mistresses. They know whom they can and can't fuck in their positions. Generally, they're screwing around with people in the same clique who are not threats, or can be easily vetted if necessary. Angleton was a fall down drunk and he didn't get shitcanned until he nearly tore the Agency apart. According to some, he also had serious mental health issues. Petraeus was retired from the military when he became DCI and not subject to its rules on adultery. This is purely political. I think he was the source of the Benghazi leaks. In fairness, I wouldn't discard some of the more reasonable "tin hat" posts on this. Watergate, which is still debated to this day, started out as a petty political burglary.

• I think the crucial point from which ALL of this starts is President Obama's fear of having a "Desert One" so close to the election. He said NO! to intervening in Benghazi. He refused to give the order which was absolutely essenmtial for anyone to move. The entire cover-up spreads out from there. As it always always always does. Everyone knows it, but only a very few completely loyal persons have proof.

• Eric Cantor knew very early due to FBI agent who leaked info

  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83681.html

• So who is the "other woman close to Petraeus" his wife or another mistress? If Broadwell showed any signs of being unhinged, TPTB would not be amused. r178, don't forget on what specifically that decision was made: CIA info that was totally inaccurate. I'm not a knee-jerk defender of the president by any means, but I think the agency bears responsibility for not having key info on the ground. That's been a problem in that region since Iranian revolution days.

• R178 is exactly right. Finally someone said it, perfectly. Assuming this is a correct assessment, will Obama escape all blame? Will enough people protect him? Presidents have been protected from much worse. Not a freeper or faux newser. Just disgusted.

• If this was an act of Obama pushing him out due to leaks ... why did disgruntled whistleblower FBI agent report to Cantor 2 weeks ago on affair. He is not a member of the Intelligence Committee. He clearly thought Cantor would take appropriate action on the info and he had opportunity to do so pre-election

• damn

• The FBI agent is not a "whistleblower", he/she is just a gossipy little bitch. Probably hoping to make a lasting name for itself by being the source of an October Surprise.

• [quote]Not a freeper or faux newser. Just disgusted. The astroturf army is still going strong in the wee hours...

• Oy vey! This is killing me. Tee, hee the picture on the second page. Wife and mistress sitting on opposite ends of a stage behind their man. She referred to him by his childhood name of "Peaches"! [quote]And it wasn’t long before the feds dug up sexually explicit emails between Broadwell and Petraeus — one of which referred to “sex under a desk,” according to conservative news site Newsmax. [quote]And as they pored over the mountains of angry emails Broadwell is said to have later sent to the unidentified woman, it was equally clear that Petraeus’ paramour viewed her as a threat to her secret relationship. [quote]For years, rumors swirled in Washington that Petraeus and Broadwell were an item. [quote]“As soon as the announcement was made, I knew in an instant who it was,” a military source told businessinsider.com. [quote]She planned to celebrate her 40th birthday party in the nation’s capital this weekend, with many reporters invited. But her husband emailed guests Friday night saying the soiree was canceled.

  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/paula-broadwell-threatened-petraeus-lover-article-1.1200101%23ixzz2BuIKbhwW

• The second woman is from Florida. Isn't that where Centcom is located? It appears that General Genius had an easily hackable (at least by someone in Black Ops) password. What an eejit. [quote]The FBI and prosecutors in Florida and North Carolina began investigating the possibility of email hacking, because [bold]at least some of the emails sent by Ms. Broadwell to the other woman included contents of messages that appeared to come from Mr. Petraeus's own account[/bold], these people said. The Justice Department and high-level officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, were aware of the investigation for months, having to approve certain parts of the investigation. Oh, wait. He may have shared the information for his personal acct.? Did he do it to prove his "love"? Double eejit. [quote]Over the course of the probe, prosecutors realized there wasn't a cyber-breach. Instead, Mr. Petraeus had shared some access to the account with Ms. Broadwell, possibly to exchange messages, these people said. And, fellas, the WSJ is your news source.

  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324894104578111471926161846.html

• so just a really stupid man blinded by sex. next.

• "He resigned after the election so it wouldn't hurt Obama in the election." Nobody cares about an affair enough to have changed their vote or stayed home, r167. In any case, Obama could have absolutely refused to accept the resignation.

• Men shouldn't be in positions of power. They're too easily led astray by their dicks. Kind of embarrassing to see how stupidly and naively they behave.

• My guess is that the links on the mistress's computer to the General's files revealed that she was passing early raw intelligence cables about Benghazi to FOX. (the CIA get lots of conflicting reports, it's the analysts' job to figure out which readings are most likely and pass them on to State.) Regardless of whether those reports were correct, that he allowed her access to, and to disseminate, Highly Classified cables as a consequence of his affair, is what distinguishes this situation from Dulles or other philandering DCIs. He had to step down.

• Oy this desperation to tie this event to Benghazi is tiresome It was reported that she had access to his personal gmail pw in the past (given to her by him) to exchange info (not related to us intelligence). Once she became jealous of the FL woman she used his log in to read & then copy & paste some of his corresponce with FL woman in her threatning email. FBI has confirmed that no security has been breached it was limited to "Human Drama"

• oh yeah, r192? Benghazi benghazi BENGHAZI!!!

  the%20rightwing

• And so resigned because...

• [quote] the FBI uncovered Petraeus' affair by chance Now I know why people vote Republican. They believe anything someone else tells them. "Of course this is entirely separate from a looming investigation! The FBI didn't know the head of the CIA has been having an affair. How could they? It's not like the FBI is an intelligence agency that keeps tabs on another intelligence agency. Like,why would they do that? Some lady had to go to the FBI in order to get the FBI intomPetraeus's email account. Yeah, a day who says Petraeus's gf was real jealous and sent nasty emails to her. Well, of course the FBI then had reason to go into Petraeus's email accounts and, like, seize his laptops and shit. It's all due to an affair, and his jealous girlfriend. Nothing at all to do with a group of people trying to embroil the president in years of investigations to totally mess up his second term,mike Whitewater."

• [quote]why did disgruntled whistleblower FBI agent report to Cantor 2 weeks ago on affair. I wonder if this is what Drudge and Trump were actually hinting around about as their big October Surprise?

• It's possible the plan has come from the other side. That Petraeus WANTS his emails and other senstive info regarding Libya made public because there s information in his communications files that can damage the administration and this was a good way to do so. He's already having an affair, so why not cook up a side story? He, his military mistress and a third party decide (or are told by someone who is helping orchestrate the whole Benghazi-as-Whitewater term-destroying investigation) to exchange emails that are "mildly threatening" so that the second woman can go to the FBI, thereby opening the door to confiscating Petraeus' communications and making them public. Yeah, it destroys his career as CIA chief and he won't run for president, but he will become an Ollie North-type highl- paid right wing hero if he has information on his computer that can damage the administration.

• Did anyone post this already? It contains footage of Broadwell and her husband Scott on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. They all do pushups together. Love the part where Stewart says, "I guess integrity runs in the family."

  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-25-2012/exclusive---push-up-contest-to-benefit-wounded-veterans

• does the husband ping?

• He agreed to take a technical demotion to run the war in Afghanistan. He was owed "something" for that. That "something" was the CIA job upon retirement and a possible future in national competitive politics or as Defense Secretary. Now he's messed that up. I suppose he's no longer owed anything.

• Well, the husband's name is Scott, which has been discovered to be the most common gay male name.

  Discovered%20By%20Whom%3F%20I%20dunno

• I thought the most common gay male name was Fernie, or was that only in the 70s?

• Go back to R179's link and read very carefully how this thing evolved. Another Congressman went to Cantor, who then had his chief of staff meet with the FBI on Oct. 31st. We know the FBI was already investigating e-mails from the woman close to Petraeus for a couple of months, and knew about the affair. But when two members of Congress, plus Congressional staff are suddenly interested, and knowledgeable due to some alleged "whistleblower," things have to be handled quickly. Clapper was doing damage control, trying to keep a lid on this until after the election, and getting Petraeus to resign. The only reason they announced this and Petraeus resigned, is because they were being blackmailed by Cantor & co. As one reporter observed:"These things don't usually go public unless they're about to go public." At the time they were implying the media had the story and the resignation was preemptive. But it was Cantor who was going to blow it up. If you don't think this has something to do with the House's investigation into Benghazi, you are dumb. The GOP thugs in Congress, led by Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and the Extreme Right are out to discredit anyone in the way of their "investigations." They're throwing their weight around, signalling the Admininstration that they have sources and are willing to play hardball, lie, distort, and destroy if necessary. They want to cripple Obama and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Boehner can't control these guys. Did the Obama admininstration engage in a cover up? No. Were there intel failings? Obviously. Was Benghazi emblematic of some deep seated failing and negligence? No. Facts don't matter to these people. They're playing vicious, destructive games and they don't give a fuck. Petraeus was stupid to get involved with what now appears to be a slightly unhinged over-achiever. This matter could have been handled quietly, since there was no breach of security. Had it not been for the thuggery of the GOP and it's supporters. Now that Petraeus has been tarnished, any testimony from his CIA operatives will be discredited.

• thank you r203.

• Petraeus's mistress was a young(ish) West Point/Harvard grad, PhD candidate, and triathlete. It shouldn't be a shock that he would cheat on his fat frumpy wife with a far more appealing acolyte. Besides, the only reason he married that troll he calls a wife is because he's an arriviste piece of trash who wanted to advance his career by landing the daughter of a 4 star general.

• [quote]Judging by Feinstein's comment Oh yes, Ms Zionist USA has always been upfront and transparent.

• Petraeus had a younger paramour lined up. [quote]WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. military official says the author who had an affair with David Petraeus sent harassing emails to a woman who was the State Department’s liaison to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. [quote]The official says 37-year-old Jill Kelley in Tampa, Fla., received the emails from Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell that triggered an FBI investigation. [quote]Another person who knows Kelley and Petraeus confirmed their friendship and said she saw him often.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/official-emails-from-paramour-led-to-fbi-probe-that-prompted-petraeuss-ouster-as-cia-chief/2012/11/10/987726e4-2b94-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html

• As R203 explains "If you don't think this has something to do with the House's investigation into Benghazi, you are dumb. The GOP thugs in Congress, led by Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and the Extreme Right are out to discredit anyone in the way of their "investigations." This is for anyone who hasn't caught the talking points which circulated Sunday to try and turn this back on the Republicans. It should work. There will be no Desert 2.

• What a dirtbag. The more that's revealed about Petraeus, the more despicable he seems. This story has become a blessing in disguise because it means he's been knocked off a pedestal he never deserved to be on in the first place.

• "Petraeus's mistress was a young(ish) West Point/Harvard grad, PhD candidate, and triathlete. It shouldn't be a shock that he would cheat on his fat frumpy wife with a far more appealing acolyte." Typical datalounge - blame the wife. Men cheat because they can.

• Petraeus was also fucking a woman in the State Department named Jill Kelley.

  http://gawker.com/5959611/we-now-know-who-petraeus-other-other-woman-is

• He's an ugly fucker. If he was a cesspool pumper he wouldn't have been getting all that pussy.

• A man has only one escape from his old self - to see a different self in the mirror of some woman's eyes.

  Mother

• R213 that's a great line!Is it original or are you qoting?

• From R211's link. "Jill Kelley is not to be confused with pornographic actress and AVN hall of famer, Jill Kelly."

• There's no telling how many affairs he had while still in the military. And Republicans were worried about gays in the military??? Please.

• Turn in your gay card, r214.

  Little%20Mary%20Haines%2C%20with%20the%20itch...

• Shut up R216. You are just spewing exaggerations and lies. You have absolutely no idea whether Petraeus had any other affairs, so quit spewing accusations, inaccuracies, and exaggerations. You're an over-excitable fool. And also Jill Kelley may have been just friends with Petraeus. Paula Broadwell was worried that Jill might get close to Petraeus. MSNBC is reporting that Petraeus' affair with Paula Broadwell ended just four months ago. (no way of knowing if that is accurate)

• Take a cool shower and a Xanax R218.

• r218, please go directly to the nearest mirror for a glimpse of an "over-excitable fool." What is YOUR damage??

  NOT%20r216

• Fuck yourself, anti-Semitic hate troll at [206]. I'm sick of that crap.

• Shut up R220. R216 has no way of knowing whether Petraeus had any other affairs. R216 is just spewing exaggerations. Stop with the 'what is your damage?' nonsense and trivialities and demented behavior, R220. You are just as big a asinine fool as R216 is.

• Proof? Time was this was a gossip site.

• 'twas 'twasn't tit?

• an asinine fool

• also r222, after you've checked yourself in the mirror, look at the top right border of this site and reread the words there.

  GOSSIP%20%26%20POINTLESS%20BITCHERY

• R218/222 is one of those Dataloungers who shows up on Sunday and posts how s/he can't stand the thought of going to work on Monday because s/he hates all the people s/he works with. S/he never thinks its her/him. It's always everybody else. Everyone else is crazy and asinine and foolish.

  Then%20Wonders%20Why%20Everyone%20Hates%20Her

• r211, interesting comment at your link re: Kelley's twin sister. Apparently she's a lawyer specializing in whistle-blowers.

• R211 does not know whether Jill Kelley and Petraeus were having an affair or not. Nothing like jumping to conclusions and spreading exaggerations about things you know nothing about.

• See? See? The Obama electorate has defeated marriage! If it hadn't been for you meddling gays David would have been sticking it to Holly every night!

  Maggie%20Gallagher

• I don't agree with the theory that this is Patreus way of taking down Obama. It does far more damage to himself by reputation and career than Obama who is already re-elected. Because security was not found to be breached he could have easily continued with his job without public knowing. As R203 suggested perhaps it was Cantor knowing (more likely to make a big deal about it) and not other Rs on intelligence committee who may be more sympathetic to him.

• r229, considering we're on DL, and the info at the link, I don't think that's a wild, freeper conclusion.

• Nice that R211 makes an arrogant, ignorant, exaggerative announcement that Petraeus was 'fucking Jill Kelley'.... but ABC News just stated tonight that Petraeus and Jill Kelley were not romantically involved and that Jill Kelley is a family friend and longtime supporter of the military.

• I agree with R208. It's not credible that after everything Petraeus has done in his lifetime, what he will be remembered for is having an extramarital affair with a loon.

• R232, you are just as easily duped, overly excitable, juvenile, and stupid as R211 is... but thanks for your stupid statement.

• R232 takes gawker.com as a credible completely accurate source. This shows how R232 is not a mature person.

• I screwed that up when I edited. What I meant to say is that it's not credible that after all Petraeus has done in his lifetime, he genuinely wants to be remembered for having an extramarital affair with a loon. He is a very ambitious man who worked hard at making a name for himself. I'm sure he didn't want that name to be dumbass.

  R211

• "Nice that R211 makes an arrogant, ignorant, exaggerative announcement that Petraeus was 'fucking Jill Kelley'...." Why are people bending over backwards to defend this guy? He's a right-winger and a homophobe.

• He won't be remembered solely for this, but it will be an asterisk by his name. It will likely be more problematic for him as I think it will eat at him and he may view himself as a failure for this. His biographer/lover put her finger on it when she said he was driven by his own General father who had great expectations, but was sparing with approval. Whether or not it would have been considered a moral failing by the elder isn't at issue; it's the fact that he exercised such poor judgment in such a sensitive position. If reports are to be believed there were no security breaches, but he made himself and his position vulnerable. I'm sure he wasn't blackmailable, but the unhinged former military intel lover might have spewed all sorts of BS about him to some enemy or provided some intelligence of her own and say she got it from him. All as retribution.

• Now there's this.

  http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/the-sins-of-general-david-petraeus

• R239, what the heck are you talking about? General Petraeus's father was a Dutch immigrant who worked for a utility company, not a general!

• Shit. I must have gotten the profession wrong. But he was a task master father who withheld approval. She mentioned it in one of her promotional interviews for the book.

• [quote] he may view himself as a failure for this You should have been in NYC before 9/11, with Giuliani strutting around with his mistress and trying to get a judge to rule he could bring her into the house where his wife and kidsived and fuck her there. Then, Giuliani was widely despised and derided S an arrogant and pathetic fool. After 9/11, America couldn't get enough of him. He was showered with millions of dollars in consulting fees, speaking fees, fees for appearing on television. If Petraeus can portray himself as a defender of truth while others were trying to take him down, he can be a hero to the same people who thought Giuliani was America's mayor. And he can make a fortune.

• Petraeus as "defender of truth" - what truth, R243, are you referring to?

• [quote]After 9/11, America couldn't get enough of [Giuliani]. He was showered with millions of dollars in consulting fees, speaking fees, fees for appearing on television. That's a NYC-centric perception; he was never seen positively by the U.S. at large. I've never talked to anyone who thought he was anything but vulgar and mean. NYC cherishes its vulgarians like Giuliana and Trump while the rest of us scratch our heads in wonder. Why it won't work for Petraeus is that he won't have a tragedy to provide him with the opportunity to grandstand that Giuliana was given. His time in power is over and his legacy has already been established. As for Petraeus not being chiefly remembered for this, there's a vast difference between political scientists and the public at large. Trust that the general population sees Tiger Woods and Petraeus in the same light.

• Here's a picture of Jill Kelly, her husband and the Petraeuses. If she's his new paramour, this is the second one that he's hidden in plain sight.

  http://www.smh.com.au/world/second-woman-in-petraeus-downfall-named-20121112-297j1.html

• R246, ABC could be wrong, but on ABC News tonight, they reported that Jill Kelley and Petraeus were not romatically involved and that Jill Kelley is a family friend and longtime supporter of the military. Paula Broadwell was just worried that Jill Kelley might get close to Petraeus.

• [quote] he was never seen positively by the U.S. at large. Yeah, right. That's why he made millions in speaking fees all over the country and was asked to open a law firm in TX. All that New Yorkcentricness.

• such drama! it's obviously more clear now why he resigned. a jealous mistress is ticking time bomb!

  Alex%20Forrest

• Was any reason given for their breakup four months ago? I've read that Broadwell was in intelligence and Black Ops. I always wonder about the stability of people who become part of B.O.. I'm sure some of them are capable of very nasty stuff. Isn't it practically a prerequisite? I can see how Jill Kelly would be worried, especially if she has a family.

• [quote] Why it won't work for Petraeus is that he won't have a tragedy to provide him with the opportunity to grandstand that Giuliana was given He'll be given a part in a "scandal" orchestrated by the rightwing ----Benghazi --- in which he can paint himself as the heroic truth teller, while the mean Obama administration didn't do the right thing in Libya and then threw him (Petraeus) under the bus. Ollie North should have been disgraced by Iran Contra, but he became a rightiwing a rightiwing hero. Nobody is saying Petraeus is going to get a 9/11-like tragedy. He's got a role to play in an upcoming Fox special.

• [quote]Yeah, right. That's why he made millions in speaking fees all over the country and was asked to open a law firm in TX. All that New Yorkcentricness. Who would have asked him to open a law firm in TX and why do we think it wouldn't have folded quickly? Is there a group whose purpose is to invite buffoons to come to TX so they can make fun of them? I've never heard of him speaking anywhere. Were these white male Republican groups who thought they would cash in on his tiny moment of fame?

• I could see Fox trying to start shit against BO by using Petraeus. Fox is probably going to create a lot of noise to try to stay relevant. I seriously doubt Petraeus has enough credibility for any but the most avid Fox fans to get on board. Hopefully he would be too ethical to do this but we'll see.

• This makes me think she wanted to get caught and have every blow up in the general's face. She was dumb/unhinged enough to have classified docs on her own computer? [quote]Ms. Kelley didn't know who sent the emails. Some appeared to be accusing her of an inappropriate relationship but didn't name Mr. Petraeus. Agents determined the emails were sent from an account shared by Ms. Broadwell and her husband, who live in North Carolina, the officials said. [quote]Top officials signed off on the interviews, which occurred in late September and October, just before the U.S. presidential election. During Ms. Broadwell's first interview in September, she admitted to the affair and turned over her computer, the officials said. [quote]On her computer, investigators found classified documents, the U.S. officials said, a discovery that raised new concerns. [quote]At Mr. Petraeus's interview in the week before the election, he also admitted the affair and said he hadn't provided the classified documents to Ms. Broadwell. Agents conducted a second interview with Ms. Broadwell on Nov. 2. She also said Mr. Petraeus wasn't the source of the documents.

  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324073504578113460852395852.html

• Guiliani has a security consulting business and is hired both domestically and internationally.

• Gentlemen, this is why you hire prostitutes.

• How is faux noise spinning this? Is the prez hiding this until after the election? I really don't want to pput up with more stupid shit from them.

• Why did she have classified documents? Explain it to me. I am lost.

• [quote]Jill Kelley and Petraeus were not romatically involved and that Jill Kelley is a family friend and longtime supporter of the military. Paula Broadwell was just worried that Jill Kelley might get close to Petraeus. I'm starting to agree with the posts up thread that question Paula's sanity and how her relationship with such a powerful man went to her head.

• R258, no one is sure at this point that Paula Broadwell had any classified documents. Supposedly there was some concern by the FBI that she might have tried to access Petraeus' CIA email. All that is being said at this point is that the FBI started an investigation into Paula Broadwell a couple of months ago because Paula sent some emails to Jill Kelley, a family friend of Mr and Mrs Petraeus, to stay away from Petraeus, as Paula was apparently jealous.

• I see the WSJ is now reporting that Paula B. had some classified documents on her computer.

• In this case, "classified documents" probably refers to photos of General Petraeus butt naked, stroking his dick.

• So how can this screw up Obama? Is there something here that could put him in danger of impeachment?

• R260 - see linked WSJ story. The docs were on her personal computer.

• Why did she have them?

• R263, please stop being a Chicken Little. Nothing about this situation has anything to do with Obama. It all reflects poorly on Petraeus and anyone trying to bring Obama's name into this is nothing but a freeper in sheep's clothing. I find it so fucking funny that Republicans kept floating Petraeus's name as a potential challenger to Obama (during this last presidential campaign), and now they're trying to pretend his moral failings are Obama's fault. Ridiculous.

• Sorry, R266. This is all making me nervous. I'll stop. Probably.

• This bitch should be thrown in Bagram, if for no other reason than her little bunny-boiling hissy fit keeps Benghazi alive for the Repubs. This is the latest they have seized on.. [quote]Paula Broadwell, the biographer revealed as the woman having a secret affair with the now-former CIA director, gave a talk at the University of Denver on Oct. 26 in which she appeared to reveal sensitive, maybe even classified, information about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. [quote]The most interesting revelation is her claim that the CIA was holding several Libyan militia members prisoner, which may have prompted the attack. (Though she also sought to explain the Obama administration's initial view that the attack was linked to the YouTube video Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islam polemic that sparked riots across the Muslim world.)

  http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/11/did_petraeus_mistress_reveal_new_benghazi_details

• Paula Broadwell is not keeping the Benghazi story alive. There are congressional hearings on the Benghazi incident scheduled for this coming week, and those hearings are enough to keep the story alive for awhile. One or two of the congressional committee members also said this weekend that they intend to subpoena Petraeus to testify. And your "little bunny-boiling hissy fit" reference is asinine and demeans whatever smathering of intelligence you happen to possess.

• r218/r222/r225/r269 You need to get a fucking grip.

• Cheating 'mos don't care. They all want the right to marry, which means you'll be wed AS ONE and not cheat. That's the point of marriage, otherwise just live together and be fuck buddies. But 'mos want the right to marry so they can mooch government benefits, they shouldn't be entitled to. The point of marriage is to provide for a stable society, not to give you an extra tax deduction. Marriage for 'mos means nothing since you all cheat left and right on each other anyway.

• What is wrong with this woman? Having a discreet affair wasn't enough. She has to brag about it and flaunt it with these little dropped tidbits to prove she is in the know? I understand how people of similar backgrounds and sensibilities can bond when working closely together. It happens and often they are more simpatico than they are wth their respective spouses. But her other actions like scaring off some woman and being indiscreet about classified info is beyond the pale.

• always blame the women, right r272? Never mind that Patraeus had 2 mistresses and allowed one of them to have access to sensitive files. What a douchebag.

• Because, frau at r273, nobody gives a damn that he was fucking either one of them. The problem is that Ms. Fatal Attraction had to twist off and threaten another woman. Nobody would be the wiser about any of this if she would've held her shit together. That's not Petraeus' fault; it's HERS.

• Of course it's not Petraeus's fault. It's never the (twice) adulterer's fault. It's always those damn cunning women. Women (who blame other women for their husband's affair) and men both agree: men just being men; women who have affairs with men just being men, are just sluts. Happy, r274?

• [quote]Never mind that Patraeus had 2 mistresses and allowed one of them to have access to sensitive files. If you'd been reading this thread, you'd know that those files were determined to not have come from Petraeus. She denied the files originated from Petraeus and investigators verified. She worked in military intelligence so she has numerous contacts, no doubt. We don't know what the investigation revealed about their origins. One of the many pieces of information still not being reported. Her risk taking is astonishing. She did seem like such a "safe" person to engage in an extramarital affair as she had much to lose, as well.

• No because you have yet to go back to fucking iVillage, r275.

• R275, you are not keeping up nor have you read this thread. The 2nd woman is a family friend and longtime military supporter, according to ABC News tonight, not a 2nd mistress.

• [quote]The FBI was investigating harassing emails sent by Petraeus biographer and girlfriend Paula Broadwell to a second woman. That probe of Broadwell's emails revealed the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus. [quote]Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the circumstances of the FBI probe smacked of a cover-up by the White House. "It seems this (the investigation) has been going on for several months and, yet, now it appears that they're saying that the FBI didn't realize until Election Day that General Petraeus was involved. It just doesn't add up," said King, R-N.Y.

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/jill-kelley-paula-broadwell-emails-david-petraeus_n_2114434.html

• Republican Rep Peter King is ALWAYS trying to stir up trouble for Democrats.

• Meh. Benghazi will go the way of Fast and Fur...zzzzz. Nobody gives a shit about this. Let that little prick Issa have his hearings. Let the conspiracy theorists rant on, it just won't matter. We voted on Benghazi last week and we are decisively not interested. The issues confronting serious people are getting a good deal on the Bush tax cuts, immigration, infrastructure spending and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's retirement plans.

• I wish there was a way to get Issa out of Congress.He has such an arrogant, unpleasant personality, how does he keep getting re-elected. Imagine how nice Congress would be if Issa, Cantor, King, and Ryan were gone along with Bachmann. Heaven.

• Morning Joe is about to have Peter King on....

• Now the message is : Why did the FBI not tell anyone they were investigating Petraeus until election day? Why wasn't Congress notified before he resigned?

• why SHOULD congress have been notified...?

• A Gallery of Gayface

  http://fandaily.info/celebrities/scott-broadwell-is-biographer-paula-broadwells-husband/%3Futm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dscott-broadwell-is-biographer-paula-broadwells-husband

• "The top Senate Democrat on intelligence issues said Sunday she would investigate the FBI's handling of the inquiry, and why the matter wasn't shared earlier with Congress. "It was like a lightning bolt," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) on "Fox News Sunday." "This is something that could have had an effect on national security. I think we should have been told." That Mr. Petraeus was having an affair wasn't the point of the FBI probe, according to the U.S. officials briefed on the matter."

• curiouser and curiouser: From The Atlantic's Adam Clark Estes: The FBI knew for months that now-former CIA director David Petraeus was having an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, but kept most lawmakers in the dark. One notable exception: Virginia congressman Eric Cantor.

• Radiologist is one of the most plum jobs ever. You don't even need to go to a hospital. You have equipment set up in your house and the hospital/imaging facility can send images through your router. You don't ever have to deal with patients. If you own an imaging facility, you get an outsourced staff from a billing company and hire two technicians. It's a job where you literally can sit in your mom's basement eating Cheetos, so long as mom lets you have a few specialty monitors set up.

• ...and...?

• Oh, and needless to say, you rake in the super bucks.

  R289

• So, to recap, if I'm understanding this. A social director at a base, Jill Kelley, a very sexy woman, is getting anonymous harassing emails and calls the FBI. They are traced to Petraeus's biographer, the stunning Paula Broadwell. In further investigating Broadwell's emails it is discovered she's having an affair with Petraeus. Petraeus realizing that this is going to go public and is a lot more tawdry than a simple affair - in fact it's the stuff of tabloid fervor - sensibly resigns. The media extrapolates from this all manner of things, including that this was somehow hidden from us until after the election - who cares? - and that this has any impact on Petraeus's testimony before Congress on Benghazi. Obviously, it does not. As Congress can compel anyone to testify before it. Anyone. Private citizen. CIA Director. Ex CIA director. Makes no difference. The country is going to go crazy with this bullshit to the detriment of focusing on real issues like the fiscal cliff. Right so far?

• Broadwell's far too masculine to be a proper Ladyboy.

• Petraeus' penis!

• I was really hoping Peter King would not be re-elected, but the GOP gerrymandered his district so that he couldn't lose.

• I am somewhat mystified by all this. He was having an affair- caught because another woman reported the mistress due to some harassing emails. No security matters breached, not secretes revealed, no national security threatened, no blackmail. Now I understand Hoover made a cottage industry out of blackmail. Oh and Congress was not informed of the "investigation". Half of Congress is having or has had affairs, at least. Half of all military brass have had or are having affairs. Also: people fuck- and Lord knows people fuck up due to their indiscrete fucking. And so? The press is going crazy and I am already bored by all this. Another stupid man getting caught doing something the American public thinks is more awful than lying about the reason you are taking a country to war. An affair! A fucking affair. No blackmail, no security breaches and Congress wants another investigation etc etc. Silly.

  charlie

• It seems like Cantor wanted to get at Petraeus. He's a nasty little bitch. Cantor needs to be 'investigated'. The GOP is playing dirty - again.

• If the press is harping on this it's because someone is telling the press to harp on this. Watch Fox for the cues on where they're going to try and take this. I wish the Dems would play dirty for once. You can't tell me there' snot a single high-level Republican out there with worst dirt than this. They need to trade in their dirt and change the media focus.

• charlie, you're a somewhat intelligent person, so wrap your mind around THIS: Paula Broadwell had classified documents on her unclassified, personal computer. I work for the federal government and whenever classified documents are introduced to a non-classified domain, an investigation is triggered. That's STANDARD operating procedure. Also, since Paula Broadwell is a military Reservist, she'll eventually be charged with mishandling classified information and adultery, in accordance with the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. If there's proof that her relationship with Petraeus began BEFORE he retired, he could be have his military career officially tainted with charges of fraternization, adultery, dereliction of duty and so much more. Again, charlie, you seem like a smart guy...so I wonder why your brain can't process the fact that there was clearly a security breach...and possibly blackmail (which is why the other woman went to the FBI in the first place). I know you consider it your duty to protect the rich and powerful, but in this case you're trying to make a molehill out of a mountain.

• R299- because the "security breach" has been stopped you numbskull. She has been discovered, the FBI did its job, Pet. resigns. He gave too much access to his "biographer". He is another among the thousands of men who blow it with a mistress. Now if there is more to it- did she tip off the Chinese or Russians or Iranians about something... I have yet to hear. As is, she is just another silly woman who had an affair with another even sillier powerful man. And in this country, that is worse than murder, and baring false testimony to take a country to war. ...and leads to all manner of hysterics (some of it quite funny) on DL.

  charlie

• Charlie, I rescind my earlier faint praise. You really are fucking daft.

• Please then inform me what I am missing. Shouldl I froth at the possiblities of national security breach and conspiracy like J Edgar Hoover? Yes he resigned. Yes he had an affair with someone who may have known too much. But the FBI knows who she is and what she's got (nothing probably.) Or perhaps something, but clearly the world has not blown up (just the press and DL). FYI, George HW Bush was having an affair while he was head of the CIA and later VP. He did not resign. I wonder why? My answer is that because he was discrete, his mistress was discrete and the press kept private affair private up until Bill Clinton. And do I need to talk about JFK? So what's new here? It is now fair game in the press to tell all about someones private life, which in the US creates such a storm that it overwhelms someone's ability to do their job.

  charlie

• [quote] If the press is harping on this it's because someone is telling the press to harp on this. Exactly. People are so dumb that they don't know the press is thoroughly told what to do by the MIC (military industrial complex). That joke of a Republican primary campaign for 2012 -- did anybody really think Mitt Romney wasn't going to be the candidate? He was picked to be the GOP candidate in 2008 after McCain lost. All of the other craziness -- Gingrich, Herman Caine, Rick Santorum -- was all theater.

• Charlie, they may have been discrete, but I think you actually meant they were discreet. ;) Broadwell is anything but discreet...just watch her on the daily show. She stopped short of mentioning the fucking under the desk, thankfully!

• From all that I've read, there was absolutely no breach of national security. None. The CIA is now on record as saying that infidelity is a job hazard and happens to agents often. It's not a big deal unless it's a foreigner or there's a security breach. So this thing never needed to come to light if it weren't for the alleged "whistleblower" who ran to Eric Cantor and his staff and made a big deal of it. The whistleblower was an FBI agent who was removed from the investigation because he knew and was close to parties being investigated, according to news reports. This tells me there is definitely a network of Extreme Right supporters inside gov't, who are willing to feed classified information to outsiders to manipulate the process. The FBI received a complaint from someone who obviously had connections at the military base where she was a volunteer. The e-mails had to have been pretty disturbing to justify the complaint. They look into it. They trace it to Broadwell. As they're "investigating" her e-mail correspondence, they find Petraeus' e-mails. When they verify that it is, indeed, the CIA director and this military reservist/author, they kick it up the chain of command and interview the subjects. They're now interested in making sure nothing was breached. Once that's been verified, Petraeus' boss, Clapper has to talk to him. It is Clapper's recommendation he resign. He agrees. Here's where it gets dicey, IMO. How can Clapper make the recommendation to Petraeus before he ever informs the President? Yet he did. Was it because by then Clapper knew thru Mueller, the FBI director, that Cantor and at least one other Congressman, and Cantor's staff members already knew and it would all get very messy any minute? I think yes.

• Jesus, is someone really stupid enough to think this is about sex?

• discreet, not discete- OK, spelling is not my forte. Now I am waiting for R301 to tell me why this is such an important news item as to dominate the American press- other than the fact that it is another story that will be on the cover of the NY Post for the next week even if China attacks Russia and Isreal bombs Iran. (By the way, I am exagerating to make a point.)

  charlie

• That's all we're interested in, r306. Not about national security, back room politics or cover ups. Just sex.

  The%20Puritians

• The fact that the gf is sending emails that prompt an FBI investigation means she has the capacity to be cray cray. A cray cray mistress of the CIA director? Poor judgment on CIA diector's choice of fuckbuddies. Let's cast this as a 1990 movie. Sean Young as Paula Broadwell Harrison Ford as CIA director Bill Paxton as Paula's husband James Wood as creepy FBI agent Gene Hackman as FBI chief Sally Field as wife of CIA chief Morgan Freeman as president

• I still believe that the affair was just an excuse like when a celebrity goes to rehab for 'exhaustion' or a polititian resigns, because 'he wants to spend more time with his family'. Sharing secret info with someone or something like FOX News is still on the top of my list for the real reason of his hasty retirement.

• YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN TOLD, IDIOT. There are classified docs on her personal computer that she did not have clearance to possess, and she has publicly disclosed info about Benghazi that had not been previously reported. How many times do you need to be told?

• "University of Denver on Oct. 26 in which she appeared to reveal sensitive, maybe even classified, information about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi." The operative word in the article quoted above is "appeared", not that she did disclose. I saw a tape of that on CBS this AM and did not come away with the above conclusion at all. R311, I kind of look for my new information from the NY Times and News Hour- not FOX, or even MSNBC. Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi... it has to be about Benghazi... everything is about Benghazi you know.

  charlie

• [quote]The operative word in the article quoted above is "appeared", not that she did disclose. Yeah, like FOX News would cooperate and confirm that they got inside information from her (either from him through her or from him directly).

• When will we learn? We trust our money to a guy named MADOFF... We trust our country to a guy named BETRAY-US Tsk

• This whole thing stinks to high heaven.

• R310, Hvae you ever seen how many hours a week a celebrity has to work? Exhaustion can and does happen. The affair violates the UCMJ, and made him vulnerable to blackmail. His resignation was both honorable and correct. Now whether or not OTHERS have been honorable in all this is where I lose faith.

• R309, Brianna Brown (ex-Lisa Niles, GH) is required by law to get all the psycho-chick roles, it seems. For the others? That new woman = Megan Fox Obama = Duane Johnson Betrayus = James Woods

• The classified info found on her computer was confirmed to not be from Patreaus ... she got it through another source of hers and that is a separate issue It was worthy of a thorough investigation ... FBI was correct on not leaking anything or telling Congress until their facts were straight. Once determined no laws were broken and security breached he should have been allowed to continue his job. But the FBI agent who was friends with Kelley and reported it on her behalf was out of the know due to his direct connection with Kelley ... he assumed it wasnt being persued and leaked to Cantor assuring it wld go public

• No, Duane Johnson is all wrong to play Obama. I say Lawrence Fishburn.

• There's classified and there's classified. Lots of things get classified but not all classified is about security. So it is entirely conceivable that no security was breached except getting classified info she shouldn't have had. Kelly - the squealer - looks to be a friend of or a wannaebe friend of the general's wife and this looks to me more about that. She had some kind of "volunteer" job at the base in Tampa? What the hell is that? A military social climber who needs to keep in good with the generals' wives? She's also another "wife of" a doctor. Great work if you can get it. As for the emails I wonder if the "threats" by Broadwell were about threats by Kelly to rat out Petraeus. I don't trust Kelly or her motives. Broadwell seems immature and impetuous despite her military training. Petraeus seems to have bad taste - in more ways than one. Someone tells you to "back off" about a guy and you go to the FBI? Really? Kelly's sister is a lawyer (uh oh - I've seen this kind of competition before) who specializes in repping "whistleblowers." Geez this thing just writes itself. So in one fell swoop Kelly has outdone her sister, gotten eternal brownie points from every general's wife who probably have something to say about her "job." I don't know if he should have resigned or not. I'm old enough to understand that people stay in marriages long after they are dead dead dead. I also understand how people who have a lot in common and work closely together - especially away from the family - can bond and fall in love. It happens. Patreaus seems to be a smart and decent man who is just human. I don't even know is this was just about sex. Often it is about much more and it's easy to blame it on lust. I don't think less of him because of the affair. Oh this is rich! Here's a statement issued to the press by Kelly: "We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children." ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!! Sorry, sweetie, you made yourself and your family fair game.

• Told ya. Her sister's the prettier one. Also seems that Kelly was given some sop award as "Honorary Ambassador to Central Command" for her voluntary work. A source says she often drops the "Honorary" and calls herself Ambassador. This Kelly is just another Linda Tripp.

  http://news.yahoo.com/emerges-2nd-woman-petraeus-case-082653049.html

  Above

• R318, a sane DL poster who knows how to read.

  charlie

• In that link from [321], love how the Kelley sisters tilt their heads the same way when posing. They seem to think they're hot, and oblivious to the fact that they're both FAT!!! LMAO

  Monica%20L.

• Look at this way: When a student brings a gun to school, or a teacher is discovered having a sexual relationship with a student, the school will typically send a letter out to parents detailing the situation. Why do some of you seem to think that the FBI was 100% justified in not telling the President of the United States or Congress about a situation that could have national security implications? Just because it's likely the affair didn't compromise national security doesn't mean the FBI should've helped keep it a secret.

• So the FBI agent who started the investigation was a friend of Jill Kelly. Then he got taken off the case. Then he decides too much time is going by and the investigation has gone nowhere, so HE is the one who notified Eric Cantor. Very, very curious indeed. Is he a friend of Cantor's?

• "Patreaus seems to be a smart and decent man who is just human." Um, no. He's an asshole.

• I wonder if Patraeus was interested in or actually fooling around with the twin sister Natalie. Broadwell couldn't tell them apart and mistakenly went after Jill. They look like Kardashians.

• Those Kelly sisters look like all the photos of Florida women who wind up on Investigate ID 48 Hours.

• Kelley is only involved in this because Psycho Paula lost her shit and started harassing her. Why is there so much opposition to Paula taking the heat that she deserves for this? If she doesn't lose her goddamn mind, none of the rest of this happens.

• [quote]So the FBI agent who started the investigation was a friend of Jill Kelly. Then he got taken off the case. Then he decides too much time is going by and the investigation has gone nowhere, so HE is the one who notified Eric Cantor. Very, very curious indeed. Is he a friend of Cantor's? I read the article on HuffPost and apparently this FBI agent wanted the Patraeus mess to come out before the election because he was hoping it would effect the outcome. To Cantor's credit, he did not take the bait. This is political on the part of the FBI agent.

• r329 has it ever occurred to you that maybe not all the information has come out yet? It's obvious these two women have been going back-and-forth with each other. We haven't seen Kelley's emails to Paula yet. Until we know everything, quit yapping, ok?

• [quote] Why do some of you seem to think that the FBI was 100% justified in not telling the President of the United States or Congress about a situation that could have national security implications? Read the NY Times article. Individuals being investigated have a right to privacy. You do not report every tip received or every initial investigation begun. The FBI ascertained that there was no criminality and no security threat as a result of the affair and probably should never have reported it at all beyond the immediate investigation/investigators. The FBI does not reveal everything it learns in an investigation. The President and Congress do not have some blanket right to information just because it is part of an investigation. The FBI friend of Kelly was not a part of the investigation. He was the tipster. The FBI is not required to nor does it report back to tipsters on the results of their investigation. It was no longer his business. This FBI friend has another motive and that seems to be personal and nefarious and targeted at either Broadwell or Petraeus or both. Maybe he was having an affair with Kelly. LOL!

  Somewhere above

• No, and you are a psycho bitch too r331 like your BFF Paula. Troll-dar outs you.

• Investigation timeline: May: Jill Kelley begins getting between five and 10 anonymous harassing emails, The Wall Street Journal reports. Kelley tells a friend, an agent at the FBI, who helped get an inquiry going, The New York Times reports. The FBI figures out the emails were sent from an account used by both Broadwells, and uses metadata footprints, the Journal says, to show that Paula Broadwell was in the same place from which the emails were sent at the time they were sent. That gives the FBI probable cause to monitor Broadwell's email accounts. Summer: The FBI discovers Broadwell is trading sexy emails with another Gmail account. The other account belonged to Petraeus, who had used a pseudonym, the Journal reports. Investigators study "the possibility that someone had hacked into Mr. Petraeus’s account or was posing as him to send the explicit messages," the Times reports, but they eventually figure out Petraeus really sent the messages. High level Justice Department officials are notified about the affair. September: Investigators interview Broadwell, who admits to the affair and turns over her computer. Classified documents are found on it. Week of October 28: Investigators interview Petraeus, who admits to the affair, too, and denies giving Broadwell classified information. At an October 26 speech, Broadwell claimed the CIA was detaining Libyan militia prisoners at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and that the attack may have been motivated by that. That had never been reported before. The CIA denied holding prisoners to The Daily Beast's Eli Lake. But Lake explains: "[Broadwell] began her discussion of the attack by referencing an exclusive Fox News report that had run that day. But while dramatic details of that story were later fiercely disputed by government officials, she relayed only parts of that story—like the attempt to send backup from a special-operations force—that were finally confirmed." Wired's Noah Shachtman and Spencer Ackerman point out that Broadwell seemed to know a lot about the U.S. response to the attacks: Broadwell also identified a special-forces team initially requested to prepare for responding to Benghazi as “a group of Delta Force operators.” While Pentagon officials have provided enough information for reporters to figure out Delta was among those units, they have not explicitly confirmed Delta received orders to prepare for a Benghazi response.

  http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/11/what-we-know-about-petraeus-affair/58909/

• Jill is too fat to have turned David's head. He would've rather fucked his wife.

• R324 we are not justifying POTUS not being told at all. Some of us are suggesting they get their ducks in a row and have all facts before reporting. They don't have time to sit around getting peace by peace like its an episode of General Hospital. Also the more people its leaked to the greater chance someone of power could try and interfere and tip off a suspect. The investigation did not start with a security breach ... it started with an angry person sending MILDLY threatening emails to another woman. And because Kelley knew an FBI agent she used that access to start at the top ... Most people would have called the police. You don't nag upper level officials with that kind of drama I support Congress not being told at all once it was established NO security was breached. It's all politics to them and info could be used as a kind of blackmail. On the the otherhand POTUS and CIA should be made aware of complete findings.

• I'll say it again. Eric Cantor is a little bitch.

• Wow, Petraeus sure seems to have a lot of tacky skanks in his orbit...

• [quote]"[Broadwell] began her discussion of the attack by referencing an exclusive Fox News report that had run that day... And we can stop right there. This is obvious bullshit.

• [quote]This is political on the part of the FBI agent. You can't swing a cat at FBI Headquarters without hitting a Mormon, that's a dream government job for them. I'll bet you the agent was a Mormon and very Pro-Romney. Chew on this: [quote] With the shortcomings of the FBI exposed in recent years, Dawin A. John was tapped by Director Rober Mueller to reorganize the FBI's computer files. What qualified Darwin A. John as bureau Chief Information Officer was his prior job as managing director of information and communication systems for the Mormon Church, where he'd served for 12 years. [quote]Richard T. Bretzing, 49, head of the Los Angeles divi­sion of the FBI since 1982, retired to become the Manag­ing Director of the LDS Church’s security department, according to the LDS Church News. Bretzing retired after 27 years’ service (three years short of the 30-year government retirement plan).

• i had forgotten about the mormon angle! good one r340!!

• Mormon Mafia in FBI:

  http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Mormon-Mafia-in-FBI-4150488.S.94606772

• r339 I think there is suspicion that she (or possibly someone else within that same Republican circle) was the one feeding the info to Fox.

• [quote] managing director of information and communication systems for the Mormon Church That doesn't qualify anyone for anything. Religion fucks up everything, ugh.

• are there as many mormons in the cia, or do they mainly go fbi...?

• Here's what I don't understand: the FBI investigated 'harassing' e-mails that apparently did not involve threats of physical harm, which sounds like middle school mean girl drama. Must be nice to be wealthy and connected.

• It is, r346. And it's working out quite well for them, isn't it?

  Bar%20B.

• Thing is this turned out to be republican on republican crime. Patreus was rumored to have political ambitions and touted by some Rs for 2016. So a musguided R FBI leak thought info wkd help seal the deal for Romney ... it wouldn't have. But it did however end a career of a competent man and embarras publicly their families. 75% of the country titilated by this aren't pinning it on Obama or the administration. Won't be a Lewinsky biproxy they had hoped.

• Well it's a good thing we wern't so prissy in earlier times or we would have thrown away thousands of men who make huge contributions this country. Ahem, Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day. Yea that would have been a smart move. Or maybe Admiral Ridgeway. Petraeus was not just competent he was one of the best, if not the best, general we have seen in a long time. As a military brat I understand the sacrifices military members make and this guy did it for decades. He deserved better than this. I don't give a shit that he had an affair - once the FBI determined there was no security threat as a result of hs actions ot his affair that he had done nothing illegal that should have been it for his part. We cannot afford to throw away good people for these reasons.

• R349, have you read the article linked at R240? If so, are you just dismissing those accusations out of hand?

• Love Jill Kelley's carefully choreographed walk from her home to her car in her just-sexy-enough-but-not-slutty yellow dress! And her God-damn-it-I'm-gonna-milk-my-15-minutes-fame attitude! She's probably angling for a reality show!

• R346, I agree that having the FBI investigate emails that say 'stop flirting with Petraeus' and 'stay away from Petraeus' is wrong and idiotic. It is stated in news accounts that Jill Kelley casually knew an FBI agent and mentioned the emails to him. This FBI agent who was a casual acquaintance of Jill Kelley took it upon himself to get an Inquiry opened at the FBI!! This is so wrong. And then when the FBI wasn't moving quickly enough, this casual acquaintance FBI agent took it upon himself to CONTACT ERIC CANTOR.

• I want to know if that agent is Mormon. For real.

• r350, the asshole who wrote that is an elitist POS. The fact he is writing this now makes me distrust anything sliming its way out of his brain and onto a screen. Seriously. I love all the articles that come out after one of their own inside the Beltway falls from grace. And make no mistake, they are in same group. The press at that level do no serious reporting unless it's okayed by their political contacts. No one wants to risk being ostracized from the Georgetown social whirl and have to do actual leather on the pavement investigative reporting. Petraeus is a social-climbing fraud; according to this guy it was known. Well, how does that effect his command? Again, this author claims it does, especially re: the Surge. Why didn't any of these people investigate his conduct at the time? The adultery during his military career is serious. So is hooking up with a potentially unstable mistress as DCI. There were questions about his Bronze Star being deserved-but no one followed up? (That is taken very, very seriously in the military) They don't bother investigating anything, yet they are perfectly willing to pile on the innuedo without even referencing specfic allegations once the guy is disgraced. Scumbag move, and I wouldn't trust anything coming from a reporter trying to make career capital out of it.

• R351, link?

• There is a detail I'd like to correct since it has been referenced at least twice. The FBI agent that Kelley asked to look into the harrasing e-mails, did not go to Eric Cantor. He went to a Congressman Reichert(R) from the state of Washington. Reichert went to Cantor, and Cantor's chief of staff. They then went to a former U.S. Attorney to ask for guidance on what they should do with the information. They then went to FBI Director Mueller's office with it. The FBI told them that while they could not confirm whether a matter was being investigated, they assured Cantor and his staff, that there were no national security implcations, and that if they did find a breach of national security they would inform the appropriate Intelligence committee members and the President. So, in effect, the FBI shut Cantor down. And since Cantor only had that one source from Reichert, who he didn't know and couldn't assess their credibility, he didn't go public. Cantor was actively trying to figure out how and when to use the information, and his staff was continuing to "look into it" independent of the FBI. So don't go tossing roses at Cantor for being decent. He wasn't. It's safe to say that Clapper would not have asked Petraeus to resign unless (1) the e-mails were way too salacious, and/or demonstrated a serious flaw in Petraeus's character beyond just having an affair, or (2) Clapper knew that Cantor was hot on his heels, and would make a huge issue of this on the eve of the hearings about Benghazi, using it to publically discredit Petraeus testimony. Instead of Petraeus going to Congress to shut down a bogus investigation, he would become an issue.

• R350, I read the article linked. The author has some real bias going in and has his own opinions about how to conduct wars. Though he says that Petraeus will always have his respect and "twisted" admiration and doesn't deserve being dragged through the mud for this, he has no problem piling on with speculation, gossip and whispered negatives that have seemed to have been around for a while but which produced no facts to back them up. There is nothing in the article that makes me change my mind about Petraeus and not just because the author doesn't really add any facts. It takes a lot to command an army and wage a war - it's an ugly business and it takes not just boots on the ground but the right perception by the enemy as well as your allies. Manipulating the media? Who gives a crap. Neither the media nor the public need to know everything about a war while it is ongoing. Nor do they need to know everything about the leaders. If this were May 1944 you can rest assured some asshole reporter would be trying to uncover the date of Operation Overlord and insist on publishing it as an exclusive and D Day would never have happened. Petraeus was not some manager at a 7/11 nor even a CEO at a civilian corportation. Nor was he an elected official. He was a top military general trying to run a war with all that involves including media perception and politicking. I think we in this nation have lost a lot of good people who will never run for office or take upon themselves great responsibility in service to this nation because no one is perfect and no one needs to be dragged through the mud because of that. In a mature nation he shouldn't have had to resign.

• [quote] It's safe to say that Clapper would not have asked Petraeus to resign unless . . . Bullshit. More mindless speculation. If Clapper really wanted him to resign it was for political reasons. Most political people like Clapper are risk averse and run at the first sight of blood.

• [quote]I think we in this nation have lost a lot of good people who will never run for office or take upon themselves great responsibility in service to this nation because no one is perfect and no one needs to be dragged through the mud because of that. ITA with this statement. It seems that the only people who "get a pass" are the ones currently in power. If you're an outsider, you're just fodder for the mill and a way to sell advertising space.

• [quote]So, in effect, the FBI shut Cantor down. And since Cantor only had that one source from Reichert, who he didn't know and couldn't assess their credibility, he didn't go public. Cantor was actively trying to figure out how and when to use the information, and his staff was continuing to "look into it" independent of the FBI. So don't go tossing roses at Cantor for being decent. He wasn't. Can anyone furnish a timeline on this? How dies it compare to Drudge teasing us with his "October Surprise" about sex? How about Trump and his big announcement?

• Cantor is an evil snake.

• I think the creepiest aspect is when the "entertainment" shows cover this - solely because of the sex involved.

• What the fuck is WRONG with these men that they risk everything for a few squirts with a looney mistress? And they're not even good-looking! Monica Lewinsky was (is) a fat basket case. Rielle Hunter has the face of a weasel and is totally bonkers. This Broadwell slut is reasonably attractive, but she's as crazy as the rest of them. Are their pussies really worth it? I wouldn't think so. Entertainment Tonight is already speculating on the movie that may be in the works about this mess, "a story of secrets and betrayal."

• interesting 360, maybe cantor squashed drudge on fear it would be traced back to him? or teased him with something without details and then didnt follow through?

• I don't think it's about the affair itself, but the fact that someone who was in a position to be making critical decisions was obviously not thinking clearly. I've seen discussions about why prospective employers run credit checks on people who won't be handling money. It seems to come down to having the good sense to manage your personal life is a reflection on how well you can do your job. Petraeus was a screw-up in a job where we can't afford screw-ups.

• Listen, r363, ALL women are cray-cray. It's just a matter of degree. And before you bitches start, I AM a woman. Most dudes like cray-cray bitches because those bitches are so totally "into" them and think they are the shitz. They never really think through the consequences - they figure the cray-cray bitches will just "go away" once the fling is over. Think again, idiots!

  Alex

• "And before you bitches start, I AM a woman." Then you should know that men are just a crazy. Because what Petraeus did was SO rational.

• R366, you are a dope and a dimwit. And wrong.

• Why do I only show 301 posts in this thread and people are referencing R366? How does that work?

• We can't tell you, R369. It's classified.

• Brat.

• R369, you have to refresh or re-sign in starting a new Datalounge page for yourself. The page you are viewing has stalled.

• Thanks, but it doesn't go away when I refresh. I guess I'll log out and come back in, but that messes up the scroll list.

• What a mish-mash of Mormons, Catholics, and Jews. There was sound reason behind restrictive covenants...

• Yes, R373, I have to log out and log back in all the time, and yes, it messes up the scroll list

• Why are governments still spending billions in sophisticated weapons when all it takes to bring down your enemy is a pair of tits?

• r360 A timeline was already linked in this thread.

  http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/11/what-we-know-about-petraeus-affair/58909/

• That's too simple, R376. She also has to learn to bat her eyes while she says, "Oh David, that's the biggest one I've ever seen."

• Why did that cunt Cantor get info BEFORE the President?

• R379, because the very misguided acquaintance of Jill Kelley who is a FBI agent took it upon himself to not only have the FBI open an official Inquiry on this matter, but this very misguided FBI agent acquaintance also personally phoned Cantor to tell Cantor about the investigation because he (the FBI agent) thought the invesitigation wasn't moving quickly enough. It's a travesty of wrongdoing by this single FBI agent.

• The Cantor thing is suspicious.

• Let me add another dynamic here: A fuckbuddy of Cantor's decided to ingratiate himself to his powerful buddy by sharing some juicy gossip.

• Troll-dar r380 to see her previous posts in this thread. She is an acquaintance herself of Jill Kelley (or at least has decided to appoint herself as one). And, like everyone else in that social circle, she is truly crazy.

• Bat shit craxy!

• FBI Agent In Petraeus Case Removed After Allegedly Sending Shirtless Photos To The 'Other Woman' Jill Kelley The federal agent who launched the investigation that eventually led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus was taken off the case during the summer over concerns that he "might have grown obsessed with the matter," The Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI agent began the inquiry on behalf of Jill Kelley—a friend of his who reportedly received about a half a dozen hostile emails from Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell. The agent referred the matter to a cyber crimes unit but was prohibited from the any role in the investigation after the FBI found out that he sent shirtless photos of himself to Kelley, people familiar with the probe told The WSJ. After being barred from the case, the agent contacted representative David Reichert (R-Wash.) out of concern that senior FBI officials were going to "sweep the matter under the rug," according to two officials familiar with the matter. The WSJ also provides details about the emails sent from Broadwell to Kelley: Ms. Broadwell allegedly used a variety of email addresses to send the harassing messages to Ms. Kelley, officials said. One asked if Ms. Kelley's husband was aware of her actions, according to officials. In another, the anonymous writer claimed to have watched Ms. Kelley touching "him' provocatively underneath a table, the officials said. The new developments raise questions about how the FBI handled the case, The WSJ notes.

  http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-agent-petraeus-2012-11

• [quote]The agent referred the matter to a cyber crimes unit but was prohibited from the any role in the investigation after the FBI found out that he sent shirtless photos of himself to Kelley, people familiar with the probe told The WSJ. Has everyone in D.C. lost their fucking minds?

• They lost their shirts!

• There is no sex scandal, ever, R386, which does involve hypocrisy on some level.

• Ok, fuck "Dallas" and "Dynasty" reboots. This situation is revealing something potentially better....and it spans the eastern seaboard! Don't be surprised if USA debuts a new show next summer called "General Affairs" or "General pubLic" Starring David Strathairn as General Damon Erasmus Kathleen Turner as Yeardley "Lee" Erasmus Eliza Dushku as Peyton Broder Eva Longoria as Karina Fanieul and Selina Morrison (nee Ghuari)

• The emails of Jill Kelley should never have been refered to the FBI by this acquaintance of Jill Kelley who happened to be a FBI agent. I'm glad it was realized that this acquaintance FBI agent is lacking in good judgment as are the FBI division which opened an offical inquiry on it.

• Oooh it gets juicier ... The FBI friend of Kelley who forced this thing to go public ... sent topless photos of himself to her. Thats why FBI removed him.from the investigation early on

  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578115410189757452.html

• r390 give up already.

• [quote]Oooh it gets juicier ... The FBI friend of Kelley who forced this thing to go public ... sent topless photos of himself to her. Thats why FBI removed him.from the investigation early on Jesus Christ, turn a hose on the lot of them. I love to see Republican family values at work.

• R381 and R390 in a thread that only has 330 posts? How does that work exactly? Wait - I need to contact the FBI and the CIA.

  Taking my shirt off as I type

• Is everyone reading this thread naked?

• This thread is useless without the shirtless photos of the FBI agent.

• So isn't the Kelley woman a liaison between the State Department and the Pentagon or the CIA (or something like that)? It really doesn't seem cray cray to me that an FBI agent, friend or not, would think it was worth looking at a series of stalker/threatening emails. These harassing emails referenced several generals in addition to Petraeus. The investigation itself is not where the line got crossed. The guy going to the House Rep. when he got shut down at the FBI was where it got fucked up.

• R397, it was erroneous reporting at the beginning that Jill Kelley was a State Dept employee. She is not. And they've said on multiple stations that Petraeus was not mentioned by name in the initial emails from Broadwell to Kelley. The emails were of the tone - 'stay away from my man' 'stop flirting with my man'. Where did you hear that Broadwell's emails to Kelley mentioned several generals. Not saying that is wrong, just asking. And the FBI friend/acquaintance of Kelley's had no right to call Eric Cantor and inform him of the investigation.

• maybe there are a hundred people involved

• r397 I think Jill is just a party planner or something. Like a social secretary.

• Wasn't Patraeus diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer a few years ago? One of the side effects of treatment is usually erectile dysfunction so either Patraeus didn't have any effects or he has a bionic penis, able to satisfy the wife and the girlfriend.

• [quote]I think Jill is just a party planner or something. Like a social secretary. She's sort of an ambassador.

  Louise%20Keeley

• Lmao! Paula B lives a few houses away from Rielle Hunter and the FBI just raided her place!

• Oh lord, are we going to see Putana Rielle out on the sidewalk watching Putana Broadwell's house being raided by the Feds?

• Oh no. Next on Greta Van Scientologist, it's the dread Liz Cheney. TINA.... Bring me the remote!

  Alan%20C.

• One more time. R398, you're right except the FBI agent didn't contact Cantor. He contacted Congressman Reichert of Washington state, and the Congressman got in touch with Cantor's chief of staff. The information was spreading, the circle widening. Then they got some former U.S. attorney involved who counseled them to notify the FBI. BTW as far as I know this fits with an October surprise, becauseCantor knew on Oct. 27th. It's highly possible the FBI agent didn't limit his "concerns" to telling Reichert, the Congressman from Washington state. It's possible the FBI agent was shopping the information around. This sentence, from r397 is exactly right: "The investigation itself is not where the line got crossed. The guy going to the House Rep. when he got shut down at the FBI was where it got fucked up. " I had no idea the FBI agent sent topless photos of himself to Jill! This is like some black comedy. I swear. Someone needs to make a movie about the constant wheel-spinning and the machinations of the FBI and Congressmen who are always plotting and scemeing and trying to ingatiate themselves. Politics at it's worst. Here is my question to you: Jill asks her FBI friend to investigateto find out who is harrasing her by e-mail. But once he initiates the investigation, he's taken off the case because he is "too close " to the complainant. So did he know and if so, how did he know, or find out the e-mails sent to Jill came from Broadwell, and that Broadwell was having an affair with Petraeus? Since he was off the case. Why would he go to any Congressman for any reason? It seems odd in the extreme that he would go to a Congressman (who then went directly to the evil Cantor,) just because he had a friend who was being harassed by e-mail and the FBI was sweeping it under the rug. Sweeping what under the rug? There is a big hole in this story, IMO. If he's an agent, he had to know this did not meet the standard for a cybercrime, so at some point it had to be about political games via Drudge and his October surprise, and vendettas. That's what is fishy to me. I bet Jill knew it was Broadwell. I bet Jill wanted to scare Broadwell never dreaming her foolishness would result in Petraeus' resignation. Something smells here.I'd bet there was some collusion between this FBI agent who was the "whistleblower" and Drudge and the October surprise that never happened. Maybe the FBI shut down Drudge. I hope they scared the p[iss out of him.

• HAHA

  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/fbi-agents-reportedly-raid-the-home-of-petraeus-alleged-mistress-paula-broadwell/

• So how does Paula's gay husband Scott (gayface, gayname) fit into this all? I'm hoping that he's fucking one of Petraeus' aides or something.

• I can picture Rielle with one hand holding Quinn Edwards, and the other flicking a cigarette, shaking her head and saying to a neighbor, "I always knew she was a slut!"

• Yes, I know she's not a State employee. I don't think that was erroneously reported at all. It was made clear from the start that she had some sort of job between the two entities but was not a government employee. I watch MSNBC, read the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. It was in/on one of those that I heard/read that Broadwell not only warned the Kelley woman away from Petraeus but also from getting close to/spending time with several other generals. Whether that was some sort of shitty attempt to disguise her real purpose, for some other reason, or was misreported - I have no idea. Since they found Petraeus' classified schedule either in Broadwell's computer and/or in the emails she sent to Kelley, I'm not sure how Petraeus' name didn't come into it. I agree that the FBI friend had no business going to Rep. Reichert (who then took it to Cantor). I don't agree that the FBI had no business looking into it in the first place. I think they did the right thing by investigating this initially.

  R397

• YOu know this also gives the GOP another excuse to go after Attorney General Holder. They didn't get him for Fast & Furious but they're still looking for something to smear him on. I think Obama wants him on the Court. They damaged Petraeus so he has no credibility or authority or standing if he testifies on Beghazi. They smear Holder. I swear they will try to pick off his people one at a time, and delay any substantive action on legitimate business of the government whenever they can get away wth it. Is this what we can look forward to? Some fucking rogue FBI agent and some Keystone Cop Congressmen? One good thing. This exposes the network. The way they operate. They have screwball sources inside government agencies leaking misinformation to members of Congress or Drudge or Limbaugh or Fox news, and then it becomes an issue, a news story.

• Interesting how all these Jerry Springer cast of characters are ALL republicans/conservatives : Patraeus, Broadwell, Kelley, shirtless FBI agent ... and once again its Obama's fault. Fortunately the vast majority of ppl are titilated by the affairs and don't care about hearings.

• I'm wondering if this Petraeus thing is meant to take him out of the running for 2016. If so, it has succeeded. I'd take a hard look at Cantor who wants more than just John Boehner's job. There are crazier Republicans in the House but I doubt that anyone's a nastier backstabber than Eric fucking Cantor. Of course, I'm so fucking paranoid that I also wonder if the focus on State in the Benghazi propaganda push is meant to take out Hillary in 2016. If so, we're going to have a fight about that. Or it could have nothing to do with either of them in 2016 and it's all about going after the President for the next year. *sigh* The life of a political junkie is fraught with tension, uncertainty and vague feelings of doom. Thank heavens we drink.

  I%27ll%20be%20in%20the%20bar

• I don't think the wife needed or wanted fulfillment, r401!

• LOL! 413. I feel you.

  Firstroundsonme

• there is more to the story, i bet it will get more juicy! truth is stranger than fiction, you can't make this shit up!!

• I don't know, I'm actually starting to get the impression that there may be a lot LESS to this story than it seems. Famous old married guy fucks younger, married, slightly Alex Forrest type. Hilarity ensues.

• [quote]UPDATE (10:46 p.m. EST): Despite being initially described as a raid, The FBI is now saying that the search of Broadwell’s home is “consensual” and part of concluding its probe into the alleged mistress, according to CNBC and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Pete Williams. Yeah, right.

• R410, there have been a large number of analysts, reporters, and lawyers on MSNBC, Al Gore's CURRENT TV channel, and CNN this evening who state that the FBI should never have accepted the case of Kelley's received emails to be investigated - that there was no predicate that met the bar of what constitutes something that should be investigated.

• [quote] “consensual” and part of concluding its probe into the alleged mistress

  lolol

• Someone tried to edit Paula's wiki page back in January, implying that she was having an affair with Petraeus...

  http://gawker.com/5959971/did-an-anonymous-wikipedia-editor-try-to-out-the-petraeus-affair-back-in-january

• Scandal probe ensnares commander of U.S., NATO troops in Afghanistan The FBI probe into the sex scandal that led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus has expanded to ensnare Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced early Tuesday. According to a senior U.S. defense official, the FBI has uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of “potentially inappropriate” emails between Allen and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa woman whose close friendship with Petraeus ultimately led to his downfall. Allen, a Marine, succeeded Petraeus as the top allied commander in Afghanistan in July 2011. The FBI first notified the Pentagon of its investigation into Allen’s communications with Kelley on Sunday evening, according to the senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the ongoing case. In response, Pentagon chief Leon E. Panetta referred the investigation to the Defense Department’s Inspector General for further review, according to a statement released by Panetta early Tuesday as he was traveling to Australia. The latest development in the unfolding scandal has shaken President Obama’s national-security staff and upended his carefully chosen plans for his military and intelligence team in his second term. It also further calls into question the personal behavior of two of the U.S. military’s highest-ranking and most respected figures, who apparently ignored concerns about the highly sensitive nature of their jobs as they embraced personal relationships with younger women who were not their wives. More...

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/scandal-probe-ensnares-commander-of-us-nato-troops-in-afghanistan/2012/11/13/7955fea4-2d54-11e2-a99d-5c4203af7b7a_story.html

  HOSHIT

• Petraeus Apparently Most Mentally Balanced Individual in His Own Scandal please find what are likely the most awesome four paragraphs written so far in the Petraeus scandal. Form the Times … Ms. Kelley, a volunteer with wounded veterans and military families, brought her complaint to a rank-and-file agent she knew from a previous encounter with the F.B.I. office, the official also said. That agent, who had previously pursued a friendship with Ms. Kelley and had earlier sent her shirtless photographs of himself, was “just a conduit” for the complaint, he said. He had no training in cybercrime, was not part of the cyber squad handling the case and was never assigned to the investigation. But the agent, who was not identified, continued to “nose around” about the case, and eventually his superiors “told him to stay the hell away from it, and he was not invited to briefings,” the official said. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Monday night that the agent had been barred from the case. Later, the agent became convinced — incorrectly, the official said — that the case had stalled. Because of his “worldview,” as the official put it, he suspected a politically motivated cover-up to protect President Obama. The agent alerted Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, who called the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, on Oct. 31 to tell him of the agent’s concerns. The official said the agent’s self-described “whistle-blowing” was “a little embarrassing” but had no effect on the investigation. So basically this entire scandal both at the outset and in the denouement was driven by Freakshow FBI Agent X who both wanted to bed the victim of the alleged harassment and also decided that the FBI was covering up it’s investigation of the Tampa socialite to protect President Obama. And this because of his “worldview”. Please let us meet this awesome example of American law enforcement.

  http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/11/petraeus_likely_most_mentally_balanced_individual.php%3Futm_source%3Dtwitterfeed%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter

• r422, I'm glad that Gen Allen was already outgoing commander. That shit is much, much more serious for someone currently in the military, especially the Marines. It also explains why Broadwell was after this woman.

• R406 and R410, from the New York Times Later, the agent became convinced — incorrectly, the official said — that the case had stalled. Because of his “worldview,” as the official put it, he suspected a politically motivated cover-up to protect President Obama. The agent alerted Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, who called the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, on Oct. 31 to tell him of the agent’s concerns. R406 and R410, the rogue FBI acquaintance friend of Jill Kelley contacted ERIC CANTOR

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/us/timeline-shows-fbi-discovered-petraeus-affair-in-summer.html?hp

• That FBI agent is out of a job already. It's only a matter of pretending he's resigning. On his own volition he politicized this situation for the right wing.

• Girls, girls you're both pretty. The agent could have alerted Cantor through his staffer, r425. It really doesn't matter anyway. The bottom line is that an unhinged Freeper started political shit-stirring because he didn't like being out of the loop, and was convinced it must be Obama's fault.

• Every single previous report has stated the rogue agent contacted Cong. Reichert who then contacted Cngressman Cantor. Here is today's Washington Post on pg 3 of the Article headlined "Petraeus Hoped His Affair Would Remain Secret" It confirms previous reports that Reichert passed the information to Cantor.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/petraeus-told-biographer-to-stop-harassing-family-friend-officials-say/2012/11/12/6ccb325c-2d00-11e2-a99d-5c4203af7b7a_story_2.html

  R406

• I told y'all that agent was never on the case and would never have been placed on a case involving a friend. You bet he's out of a job and for damn good reasons. His derelection of duty is obvious and dangerous whereas so far I have seen no derelection of duty on the part of Petraeus. So now it seems the "threatening emails" were more in the form of sisterly advice from Paula warning her off a dangerous course of action with the other general. I see. Makes sense in their junior high world. Jill was worried she was going to be busted "playing" with another general and lose her volunteer job as Lady in Waiting to the General's Wives. So this snitching out of Paula and HER general was her first strike defense. Very military. The attempt to change Broadwell's wiki page to say she was having an affair LOL! Idiots. Wiki will be getting subpoenas from the FBI. I still feel sorry for Petraeus. he doesn't deserve this shit.

• Interesting article from Wired. It claims that Broadwell had classified info on her computer, but not from Petraeus. OK then where the fuck did she get it from? The FBI doesn't show up at your house and take shit out (voluntarily by you, or by warrant) unless something classified was involved.

  http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/gmail-location-data-petraeus/%3Fcid%3D4520644

• r429 Try to keep up. Agent Shirtless WAS on the case, until the other investigators found out he sent Kelley those slutty pics of himself, then he got kicked OFF the case.

• r431, r429's post is apologist bullshit, but s/he is right about the agent's status. He was not in the cybercrime unit, he was in intelligence according to a former Asst Dir of the FBI. He brought the case to the cybercrime division, who kicked off a tentative investigation. As it became obvious it might be politically sensitive, it got sent up the chain of command. They also knew (or found out) that Agent X was a loose cannon who wanted to fuck Kelley. Had anyone in the cybercrime unit just showed some fucking balls, looked at it, said it wasn't actionable (which it wasn't according to several former FBI agents in the media) and dropped it, none of this would have happened.

• R431, No, the rogue FBI acquaintance friend of Jill Kelley was never on the case. Cybercrime was not his area of duty, job, nor expertise. This was spelled out on either MSNBC, Al Gore's CURRENT channel, or CNN tonight. He brought the situation to the FBI and they opened an official inquiry into it.

• No, R431, Agent shirtless was never on the case. You need to read some more. He even said so himself.

  R429

• FBI Agent In Petraeus Case Removed After Allegedly Sending Shirtless Photos To The 'Other Woman' Jill Kelley The federal agent who launched the investigation that eventually led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus [bold]was taken off the case during the summer[/bold] over concerns that he "might have grown obsessed with the matter," The Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI agent began the inquiry on behalf of Jill Kelley—a friend of his who reportedly received about a half a dozen hostile emails from Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell. The agent referred the matter to a cyber crimes unit [bold]but was prohibited from the any role in the investigation after the FBI found out that he sent shirtless photos of himself[/bold] to Kelley, people familiar with the probe told The WSJ. [bold]After being barred from the case,[/bold] the agent contacted representative David Reichert (R-Wash.) out of concern that senior FBI officials were going to "sweep the matter under the rug," according to two officials familiar with the matter.

  http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-agent-petraeus-2012-11

• R432, you write an excellent, succinct, accurate description of the situation

• r433 aka Jill's BFF, you are the least reliable source of information in this entire thread.

• The shirtless pics angle is just CRAZY. What am I missing? Why does an FBI agent send shirtless pics to Jill Kelley? Everyone in this scandal is a Republican, right?

• All other reputable sources find the businessinsider.com article you are posting wrong

• The investigation began in May, before Agent Shirtless sent his sexy pics and therefore before he is reported to have been removed and barred from the proceedings. I trust the WSJ more than I trust you, water carrier for Jill Kelley r439.

  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578115410189757452.html

• R435, they are wrong. As media often are. He was never on the case. Period. R437, quit calling people BFFs of any of these people. R433 is correct. I need to see these shirtless photos. Does he have tits or something? Why is a shirtless photo of some guy salacious? Maybe he was at the beach. This is all so hilarious and it hasn't even been a week yet.

• Wow this Jill is a psycho, too. She claims she never dreamed asking her FBI contact to find out who was e-mailing her, would lead to Petraeus's downfall. But there she was exchanging literally thousands of pages of e-mails with Gen, Allen. Petraeus's successor in Afghanistan. And the Tampa agent hated Obama. Bet miss Jill wasn't a fan of his either. The military is rife with white supremacists. And a lot of them are from the Carolinas. I recall incidents some years back maybe in the 90's, when there were racial incidents and dozens of military in North Carolina were busted for something like a conspiracy. This was during all the militia crap, maybe before or after the Oklahoma thing.

• Did we ever find out what the important mission was the anonymous person wrote in a letter to the newspaper?

  Not gonna read the whole thread

• Jill Kelley is a major military cockslut and those 'topless' photos of the FBI agent is a demure way of saying that they're really dick pics. Wish I was as lucky with top brass studs.

• Well that explains why Kelley hired Abbe Lowell as her lawyer and Judy Smith as her PR consultant, R442. Lowell and Smith are people you hire when you are deep shit. Lowell has defended John Edwards, Jack Abramoff and Gary Condit. Smith has done crisis management for Monica Lewinsky, Michael Vick and Kobe Bryant. When I heard she hired Lowell and Smith, I thought it was strange for someone who was being portrayed as the victim in the case to bring in such heavy hitters. Now, as you mentioned, it has been revealed that she exchanged THOUSANDS of "inappropriate" emails with Gen. Allen. I'm guessing this is the tip of the iceberg. Although, I'm not sure the public will ever know the full story.

• Does anyone recall about 3/4 months ago, where a lot of FBI and CIA agents were let go or disciplined about alleged prostitution scandals? There was some information then about deep-rooted sex scandals high up in the secret services - some whispering in the press about it. I can recall this and all this new information has me wondering if the media was already buzzing about something "higher up" even then.

• I remember there was a Secret Service scandal having to do with prostitutes. Weren't, they waiting for BO to get to where they were so they could protect him and in the meantime they hired hookers and stayed drunk?

• I adore Abbe Lowell - he's a fabulous lawyer. I'd hire him for anything. Besides any criminal issues she may face, he is the perfect person to hire if you may face a congressional hearing or want to avoid facing one. Also he has a great sense of how to handle the press. Just think one short week ago we were bogged down in the election and people were without electrity. Now we have a wondrous SEX SCANDAL that keeps shape shifing into all kinds of fun possibilities. So who is the FBI agent? Where are the topless pics?

• Another view of the General, which shows exactly why assholes like this are ruining your military. Taken with a grain of salt of course, but I believe him:

  http://www.vice.com/read/i-was-david-petreauss-bitch-in-the-90s-and-i-hated-every-second-of-it%3FContentpage%3D-1

• [quote] One of the side effects of treatment is usually erectile dysfunction so either Patraeus didn't have any effects or he has a bionic penis, able to satisfy the wife and the girlfriend. Oh, dear. A penis doesn't satisfy women and never has, since it doesn't give them orgasms. The way you satisfy a woman is through damn good oral sex and nimble hands. That's how you get a woman hooked. Smart straight men know this, and that's why they get all the pussy they want.

• This thread is useless without photos of the fuckwit FBI agent.

• wow

• R419, I appreciate that other people have different views and that the situation may not have met the criteria for investigation. I'm still okay with it having been investigated. As far as I know, Petraeus' classified schedule was in this somewhere, right from the start. That's why the FBI began looking into it, working from the idea that Petraeus' email may have been hacked. The over-zealous (and paranoid Republican) agent obviously should not have contacted the House of Representatives. That, in my opinion, is where this whole thing went wrong.

• I suppose the next big revelation is going to be the identity of the paranoid, lovelorn Republican agent. Kelley's girlfriends know who he is and may even have pictures forwarded from her. They're bound to talk soon.

• So Jill Kelley had her own general to fuck!

  http://politi.co/RUps5k

• It sounds like a RING of loose women and stupid rightwing generals.

• This scandal is going nuclear soon and will lead all the way to the Oval Office, just like Watergate. Trust mother, kiddies.

  Cindy%20Adams

• Paula Broadwell’s dad: More to come out

  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83750.html?hp=l1_b1

• They can't drag Obama into this, can they?

• From here on out please refer to the FBI agent as "agent shirtless". Jill Kelly= Tampanian consort

  Anonymous

• This reminds me of an old time fairy tale.

  Eve%20offering%20forbidden%20fruit....

• How would this possibly "lead to the white house"?

• Just so we're all on the same page, the Congressman the FBI agent went to, and the person who took the information to Cantor, is Dave Reichert, the former Sheriff of King County (Seattle) who made his reputation on the Green River Killer Task Force. In Congress he was a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Subcommittee on Border Maritime and Global Counter-terrorism, and the Ranking Minority Member on the Subcommittee on Intelligence Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment.

• R. or D. r463? Is he Mormon by chance?

• [quote]R. or D. [R463]? Is he Mormon by chance? Apparently not. Minnesota Lutheran from what I can see.

  R463

• Here's a good article about how the case unraveled, so to speak

  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/12/exclusive-paula-broadwell-s-emails-revealed.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=exclusive_breaking_news&cid=newsletter;email;exclusive_breaking_news&utm_term=Breaking News and%2

• repu lican or democrat r465?

• [quote]repu lican or democrat [R465]? Republican. Washington 8th has never elected a Democrat, although every election is VERY close, and it could easily turn blue in years to come.

• so is there a political angle to this story? are most or all of the players republican? were they trying to effect the election and the timing got screwed up? etc.

• So this is the result of Republicans, not Democrats. I couldn't figure out who was behind it and what the motivation was. I should have known it was panty-sniffing, dirty trickster Republicans. They did this to make Benghazi a bigger story. The MSM has been ignoring the rightwing's hysteria over Benghazi and its breathless charges of "a coverup." In taking down petraeus, they get the punditocracy all crazy over the affair and the focus is on Benghazi when the rightwing rolls out its next talking point. The poor GOP was waiting for this to be their October surprise, but it didn't go through. Now there will be "when did Obama know," goobledegook and news of a "coverup" of knowledge of the affair.

• General Allen is now pulled into this with 20,000 emails in two years between him and Jill Kelley? Um, wtf is going on, and how is that even possible?

• R469, yep they were trying to effect the election and they are also trying to make Benghazi happen. They figured this would do both.

• but HOW!? it's about the incompetence of republican-leaning soldiers, their rightwing mistresses and a couple of republican congressmen. POTUS was not in the loop, nor was he responsible for these generals sleeping around.... ?

• right?

• [quote] This is like some black comedy. I swear. I think the whole thing is a setup. Either someone hacked Broadwell's account or someone told Broadwell to send the emails. Broadwell is military/CIA. She knows people in her family will start dying in car accidents and having massive fatal heart attacks if she doesn't keep her mouth shut.

• [quote] but HOW!? Stay tuned.

• R476, if you know something, spill it. Otherwise STFU.

  HATES%20teasers

• Jill Kelley article

  http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/macdill/petraeus-friend-jill-kelley-found-place-hosting-military-parties/1261272

• Holy shit. The audacity of the GOP is stunning. NPR reported that "some members" i.e. Republicans, were all upset that they weren't notified of this investigation before it became public. One Republican on MSNBC claimed it wasn't just a political issue that it was about "protecting the president". TOTAL Bullshit. 1) Cantor- is the reason this BECAME public. 2) All of a sudden the GOP si soooo concerned about the President's welfare. REALLY? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? They're acting like little girls who didn't get invited to the latest shit-stirring party.

• [quote]POTUS was not in the loop, nor was he responsible for these generals sleeping around.... Please, the repugs will circle the wagons and start bleating in unison that "He was the Commander in Chief, The Buck Stops Here!" The only thing stopping them for now is the fact that they're not sure if any of their own are involved in this.

• [quote] [R476], if you know something, spill it. Otherwise STFU. This is an unfolding story. There is new information every day. So Stay tuned or STFU

• OBVIOUSLY this is a breaking story, R481/476 etc. All of us reading this thread, and, indeed, with TV sets, are aware of that. It doesn't require idiotic, teasing posts from you, which imply you know something you evidently don't, to inform us of that fact. So, as I said, STFU.

• That crazy-assed website someone posted about the military coup is starting to almost sound sensible. A whole bunch of military people are being taken down

• R482: clinically insane.

• R483 - I read that article and yes, it made more sense than I would have liked. All those military men have been "removed" in the last 2 months or so. Weird. Does anyone know if 5 or 6 higher ups "retire" in the same time period?

• Yes, absolutely, it's ME who is insane, R484 etc. etc. *eye roll*

• Forgive me if I am mistaken, but this article in the Times lists a number of generals relieved from duty due to misconduct. There isn't the same level of speculation as in the other article upthread, but it's interesting that others are thinking along the same lines.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/us/petraeuss-resignation-highlights-concern-over-military-officers-ethics.html%3Fhp

• Jill Kelley sure knows a hell of a lot of people, no? Petraeus, Allen, FBI agents... And yes, it is you, R486. Nobody else in this thread has gone ballistic over one person's harmless post. Why don't you be quiet now and let the grown ups talk.

• I just realized I know Jill Kelley's husband. He's a doctor and had privileges at a hospital where I used to work. He was one of the very few doctors I would call a raging asshole. He talked to nurses like they were scummy little idiots. I got to witness a feisty queen get into a screaming match with Kelley over the phone. He told the doctor he couldn't talk to him like that and hung up on him! Kelley called him right back and the fight resumed. Good times.

• And they were worried about gay people in the military???

• Eisenhower warned us about our Generals...they have been controlling us with the backup of the military corporations...I'm hoping Obama will set them straight. They are not the real head of government but they have been acting head ever since they killed Kennedy.

• damn.

• I remember Doctors like that, I disagreed with one and he nearly had a stroke. Guess no one had ever had the nerve...maybe I was the first?

• I think Benghazi was the issue, but not in the GOP way -- a few weeks before the election, I read an article about how Libya was more a CIA outpost than part of the State Department. This explained why Hillary didn't seem initially as on top of the situation as one would suppose. Being CIA, that meant Petraeus, and not only Petraeus, but a man and his friends so contemptuous of the Executive Branch that he was running the embassy on his own and not reporting up to the Secretary of State and the President on what was brewing in Libya...

• Are you talking treason r494?

• Now that he lost his job, maybe he can go into show business as a sidekick to Charlie McCarthy..

  http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y9i26wcSeHc/S0jf5UjD8GI/AAAAAAAAAAM/Rg1nCxmu63g/S660/mortimer snerd.jpg

• In r494, I'm thinking the same way as r491, r495.

• r491, This reminds me- and maybe this is for another post- but has anyone else noticed in the weeks leading up to the election how Obama has had his family around him less and less? The kids were NEVER at the debates or seen with him in public very much. There was something about his demeanor... I don't know. It made me wonder if they were under a special amount of security. Even at the acceptance speech, they were only on stage for a brief while. I've read in past articles how he's received more outright threats than any other president but ... I wonder if something happened or they knew that something was happening behind the scenes.

• Of course it was CIA...the CIA runs wild all over the world and no one stops them. It's always the same in any Embassy. Perhaps the Ambassador did not like cooperating with the CIA, so they they killed him, that's probably the real story.

• Petraeus is kind of a cool name.

• We're automatically assuming that the Republicans are in the driver's seat here, but there is also the possibility that Obama is on top of this and has been for weeks. The list of officers removed from duty recently points to someone be proactive. This could not only blow up in the Republican's faces, it could give Obama the leverage he needs to do the first real housecleaning the military's had in decades.

• This thing freaks me the fuck out. I would love to believe this is just bunch of arrogant horny idiots caught with their pants down. I think of all the crazy jerks on the internet who would gladly accept a coup if it put the gays and the blacks back in their place. Since they could not steal the election the next goal will be impeachment and if not that worse. Remember these jerks could make billions from a war with Iran just like Iraq.

• When the bodies were returned from Benghazi, people noted the absence of Petraeus at the ceremonies. He was busy elsewhere, meeting with Ben Affleck and viewing Ben's latest movie.

• This thread gets more hysterical everytime I open it up. Aunt Pitty Pat would right at home on DL, or at least on this thread.

  charlie

• So where are the best tinhat sites to read more about this? I like to keep my conspiracy theories up to date.

• For people doubting that something more is going on than a little bunny hopping, remember that people never get fired just for sex -- sex is only the excuse used for another reason.

• Uh, yes they do, in 2012 in the US. Weiner, Edwards campaign and career ended. Spitzer. Etc.

  charlie

• To quote Jon Stewart: this is more 'Melrose Place' than 'Homeland.'

• I think Petraeus may need to be given a good paddling, but maybe he might like that too much.

  anon

• The Republicans are DESPERATELY trying to spin this as a fault of or some kind of conspiracy leading to or by Obama. Consider this quote from the Republican Peter King (Ironic name, no?) on Scarborough, calling it a crises of [italic]"major proportions"[/italic]. [quote]Once the FBI realized that it was investigating the director of the CIA or the CIA director had come within its focus or its scope, I believe at that time they had an absolute obligation to tell the president. Not to protect David Petraeus, [bold]but to protect the president.[/bold] Now I ask you, since WHEN have the Republicans been concerned about "protecting the President"? They're pissed that they can't tie this back to Obama. If they can't make him responsible for knowing about it, then they're gonna try and make him look bad for NOT knowing about it. Ugh.

• That coup theory does seem plausible in a way. I mean the country was divided by the election by race, no one liked Romney and Obama was cutting military purse strings and Isreal is preening for a war with Iran. Add to that the entitlement and big budgets of the military elite and corporations, I could totally see them saying we can run this shit ourselves and "save" America.

• The Rethugs want to tie all of these Rethug antics and scandal to Obama so badly but I think they will fall on their face especially Cantor and his meddling. Like all the Rethugs that went after Clinton ended up resigning/leaving.

• My problem with the "coup' theory is that it's being put out there by an extreme NUTJOB right wing Xtian conspiracy site.

• I don't think it is a coup as much as it is contempt -- the military has so much power in the status quo, they don't need to over throw anything. They feel free to ignore the President now.

• I think (hope) this is all coming from Obama. Let's face it, Generals are corrupt and there is nothing in the world more corrupt than our own death squad, the CIA.

• My guess as to why Cantor kept quiet was that he was one more person who really thought Romney would win. Petraeus is a republican and was considered one of the bright stars. Cantor probably figured they'd shut everyone up and drop this, keeping it private. Then Petraeus would stay on.

• 'Duty Honor Country' the motto is the motto of West Point Academy. Notice the order of those terms.

• Waiting for the sex tape

• Judge: Jill Kelley's twin psychologically unstable and a liar David Petraeus' friend Jill Kelley isn't the only woman in that family he's been giving attention to this year. In fact, it might make more sense if Paula Broadwell had sent the questionable harassing emails to Natalie Khawam if one were to see the photo of Khawam and Petraeus together here. And since the four-star general sought to aid his Tampa, FL friend's married sister by writing a letter aiding her in a fierce custody battle a mere two months ago, then Broadwell might have more justified suspicions. Jill Kelley's twin is psychologically unstable and a liar according to the judge who has dealt with her and her husband Grayson Wolfe as they battled it out for who was getting custody of their son. One year ago this month that judge awarded Wolfe custody because he said Natalie Khawam, who happens to be a lawyer, was herself sending harassing emails to her husband's friends and business partners. In addition to that, Kelley's twisted twin had lied under oath, falsely accused her husband of domestic violence, as well as made false child abuse claims when they had been married one year. The marriage was disintegrating and this was Khawam's way to deal with it and sole custody of her son. A court-ordered psychiatrist said Jill Kelley's sister's false claims against her husband was "part of an ever-expanding set of sensational accusations." Paula Broadwell had the harassing emails act in common with Jill Kelley's sister, but the two women might have swapped harassing emails to one another if Broadwell had realized Petraeus was helping Khawam recently.

  http://www.examiner.com/article/judge-jill-kelley-s-twin-psychologically-unstable-and-a-liar

• urf.

• I'm somewhat surprised a photo of the shirtless agent hasn't popped up yet. Surely, she must have forwarded it to a girlfriend or two.

• Petraeus is a Republican, but I know for a fact his daughter is a Democrat. His wife seems fairly apolitical and his son is a Republican by default.

• Agent Shirtless name should be leaked ... he was the one pushing to publicly air the dirty laundry of Patreaus, Broadwell and their spouses/children when it didnt need to be made public

• "Surely, she must have forwarded it to a girlfriend or two." Doubt it. He's probably some old guy who thinks he looks hotter than he actually does

• Military bases are hotbeds of sexual intrigue. If you live near one and "volunteer" you're usually infatuated with the military. If you're prominent and well to do, and access the upper echelons,the social cache from be "close" to generals and their wives is very important. It's an entire sub-culture unto itself. This is true from Hawaii,to the Carolinas,San Diego to Norfolk, and especially the Washington, D.C. area. It's very intoxicating to have access to top generals, celebrities you read about and see on the news. Jill Kelley seems like a conniving bitch. Very proprietary about her "friends" with no problem using their influence. Bet we're going to find out about all kinds of "perks" access afforded her. People like her, immersed in the base's culture, hanging out with generals and their wives, lose sight on reality. They too, operate in that parallel universe. It gives them a sense of power to be able to call up a "friend" in the FBI andatart an investigation. She was never frightened. She was pissed, intriguing to find out who had peeped her. Bet she is sorry she fucked over Petraeus, tho. She's sinking like a stone,her social status completely compromised. She complains she's the vicitm in this debacle, but all those "friends" now consider her a pariah. Broadwell will figure out how to turn this career destroying mess to her advantage. She has more intellectual and personal resources, so she'll re-invent herself. Remember. She's "cooperating." Kelley seems like a Right Wing, politically active piece of shit. Petraeus's lover is hard core military. She probably knows enough for a few more books. There's no serious conspiracy operating here, IMO. The scandal just rips the covers off the military sub-culture. All that God, Honor Country rectitude. Officers, enlisted men, Generals, fuck around all the time. Generals have huge egos. They love it when these military "groupies" sing a chorus of "How great thou art." So yeah, Melrose Place not Homeland. In my opinion? The Republican cabal has been after Holder for months. They hate him. They will use this to take another run at him. This also compromises Petraeus's report on Benghazi. He was going to testify with a stellar reputation, with weight and authority. Now he looks like a pathetic ass. His report on Benghazi will have no impact. He's been blunted. The GOP is scrambling for angles to take advantage of. Yes, all these players are Republicans, but don't kid yourself. Rigid extremists like the Republicans in Congress, don't forgive anyone who willingly cooperates, supports, or collaborates with the enemy. Ever. So Petraeus, who was going to support the adminnistration's version of what happened in Benghazi, now has a career in shambles, and no credibility in his own area of expertise. The impact on POTUS, is that it's weakened him. I'm so glad he has Holder & Panetta with him. You won't find two more capable, smart, courageous, principled members of the cabinet than them. As for Election night, and the rest, I noticed the absense of the kids, too. But I Michelle was campaigning like crazy this time. The kids are older,and know what's happening now, it's not new as it was in 2008. But Iy do agree there were serious security concerns, and they were obvious in the decision to move indoors in Charlotte, and again election night. There are some very angry people in this country. Some of them are members of Congress, some of them serve in our military, and some of them infiltrate large crowds. By removing people who are capable and trustworthy in the performance of their jobs, it endangers the country as much as POTUS

• I'm surprised his election night festivities and speech were held at the State of Illinois center. It's smack dab in the middle of the Loop among a lot of buildings with shots at him.

• [quote]There are some very angry people in this country. Some of them are members of Congress, some of them serve in our military, and some of them infiltrate large crowds. By removing people who are capable and trustworthy in the performance of their jobs, it endangers the country as much as POTUS To that point, an acquaintance of mine was just telling me a few days after the election that his little brother, who just signed up for the military, is PISSED that Obama won because that means he's not going to get to go into battle because Obama has been scaling back fighting and such. Under a Romney admin., he was sure he'd see fighting action, and that's what he wanted. It's psychotic, but there are plenty troops and their families who actively WANT another war because it means they get to play GI Joe hero or some shit.

• It sounds like the Kelleys blaze a trail of litigation wherever they go. The Tampabay.com article says that she in her husband have been involved in 10 lawsuits for non-payment of credit cards, rent, and a foreclorsure on an office building.

• Just heard some breaking news: Jill and her hubby doc are broke and deeply in debt from the real estate bubble. Supposedly they have a mansion but can't keep it. Sorry don't have a link yet.

• There seems to be a major purging of top military brass. Another general was just stripped of a star and allowed to take 'early retirement' w/the demoted pay. how many is that of late?

• The article at R449 is interesting.

• [quote] When the bodies were returned from Benghazi, people noted the absence of Petraeus at the ceremonies Why would he be there? The agency doesn't acknowledge members working as Embassy personnel. If they were working as such. Ambassadors are not CIA operatives but personnel at embassies and various missions may be. But that is not something discussed even after death.

• How, r525, has this "weakened" POTUS?

• So r527's brother just wants to shoot his gun and kill people, he doesn't care who he kills...he just wants to kill so let us send him over to another country...and set him loose. Creepy America.

• Dammit, you Marys are scaring me! The coup tinhat theory totally fits with everything that has happened lately. I'm worried about O and the girls. How can they trust anyone close to them? And if one head of the hydra is cut off, who's to say there aren't three more growing?

• Oh, and I'm clutching my pearls as I type.

  r535

• I worry about Obama also. I hope he has trustworthy secret service agents around him. Early on, I don't think they were really watching him carefully.

• R525, you go a bit too far. You forget that the people Petraeus will be testifying to and who are the ones who need to "buy" his explanations aren't much different from him. That includes Dems as well as rethugs. That is, MEN who are probably very sympathetic with his ordeal. You know - there but for the grace of god blah blah blah blah. His credibility on the topic of his expertise is not completely gone at all. That's just an over the top statement. I wouldn't be surprised if they resurrected him in the future. Now the rethugs may very well try to make it seem like he shouldn't be believed so they can make unfair hay of the Ambassador's death but it's far from reality. The committee could hear Petraeus' testimony in closed session. I'm not seeing any reason why it couldn't except politically. I know Eric Holder. I like Eric Holder. Yes the rethugs have been going after him on some pretty stupid things and have shown an idiotic understanding of how DOJ works. But you again go over the top with your praise. Just the other day I saw something about the President wanting him for the Court. I hope that was a joke. Eric is capable and very likable but he is not exceptionally smart. Not the kind of smart you need for the Supreme Court. There ARE however judges who ARE that smart right there in DC in the courthouse where Eric used to sit. But Eric is not and was never considered one of them. I also have some serious issues with some of his policies at DOJ but from a different perspective than the rethugs. Holder is not the great liberal people think he is.

• I forgot to add - these conspiracy theories are whack.

• r525, please answer the question. i appreciate your posts. i just want you to be specific on how this weakens obama, as i don't see it.

• r535. Don't worry. The coup theory is not true. It is true that Obama has had a lot of threats against him, most presidents to- but he more than others. However, he's a smart man and he has people close to him that are very loyal. This is all going to blow up in the Republicans' faces. Just wait.

• CNBC explained how Petraeus and Broadwell handled their emails, and it's kind of clever. They had one Gmail account and they both had the password. Instead of sending each other emails (which left a record)left them in the Gmail account. They logged in, read each others drafts, and never left a trail. Or so they thought.

• I'll give Limbaugh credit. I turned him on expecting to hear outrage, but he's just shaking his head over this, and not trying to pin it on Obama. He calls it "Real Housewives of West Point."

• So how did the FBI find it? r542? Did they hack the account or is this another thing that Google has given up to the Government?

• I hope you're right, r541. It must be like living in piranha infested waters - never knowing who to trust. Whatever great omnipotent presence is listening - please keep an eye on the First Family and keep the people around them loyal.

  Pearls%20slowly%20turning%20to%20dust%20from%20my%20clutching.

• [quote]So how did the FBI find it? I think the prom queen/valedictorian/West Point athletic star/Harvard doctorate lady used the account to harass the brown lady.

• [quote]So how did the FBI find it? [R542]? Did they hack the account or is this another thing that Google has given up to the Government? Didn't say. Maybe the got Broadwell's computer and logged on?

• [quote]They logged in, read each others drafts, and never left a trail. Or so they thought. I can understand this as I do it myself. BUT - even if you don't SEND the damned thing, it's still out there on the Google servers. It's also still on your HD. Seriously, people? You're C fucking I fucking A and don't grasp that?

• r525?

• What do you bet the password was someone's dog's name.

• [quote]even if you don't SEND the damned thing, it's still out there on the Google servers. It's also still on your HD. Isn't Gmail about the worst one they could have picked? I don't use it, but when I looked, it didn't seem like you could ever really delete a fucking thing once it was on there.

• Yes, pretty much like FB, r551.

• They traced the borderline harrassing e-mails to Broadwell's family account (Yes, that's right. It's in her husband's name, too) where they found Petraeus' classified schedule, which widened the scope of the investigation. They wanted to know how she obtained what she shouldn't have had. They were able to trace her internet activity to the shared account, where they found evidence of the affair and the other link to the general. It all sounds kosher except for the initial FBI involvement which seemed to be finagled by Mrs. Kelley through a personal contact at the bureau. Agent Shirtless seemed to be shepherding the case through his contacts in the bureau in order to get into Mrs. Kelley's good graces, so much so that his obsession was noted by his superiors and he was removed from the case. He then called the heavy right-wing hitters in Congress. The fact that Limbaugh is calling this a "Real Housewives of West Point" says a lot. It's practically an acknowledgement that the right wing has shot itself in the foot with their cray cray. Well, he won't acknowledge the nuttery, just that it's not working out so well for them.

• The talk about conspiracy has reminded me of something one of the pundits was bitching about before the election. He read Michelle's schedule, and wondered why on earth she was wasting campaign time going to several historically Black colleges and speaking there instead of going to Florida or Ohio where she could do some good. It certainly would have been easier to protect her (and spot threats) on a black college campus than in downtown Cleveland.

  Yes%2C%20Tinhat%2C%20I%20know.

• Well, if Limbaugh is downplaying it as Real Housewives of West Point, maybe it is actually something more serious that is not being talked about.

• Also, if this bizarre Right-wing planning was going on behind the scenes, it might easily have been a factor in Obama's drained demeanor and lackluster first-debate performance. If there had been real security threats against his family...

• Limbaugh is downplaying it because it all involves repugs.

• Weel, first, in spite of what R538 says about me being "over the top" I'll stick to my own beliefs about Holder. He's very loyal to Obama. I'm certain there are many fine potential candidates for SCOTUS, but the standard against which I measure is Clarence Thomas, Alito, and Scalia. Compared to them Eric Holder is a fucking genius. I never suggested he is a "great Liberal. " I do believe he's ethical, and would uphold the Constitution with a comparatively liberal bias on those questions which I hold important. With an Eric Holder on the court, I wouldn't worry about Voting Rights, Abortion or anything else of particualr concern to women and minorities in this country. We can differ about Eric, but those are my reasons. All one can do is their best, and I trust Eric Holder's impulses. I only "know" him from his work. I don't always agree with his actions, but I trust him. As for this military soap opera, I see it as weakening POTUS because it affects the lead people he's entrusted with conducting the war on terror. Petraeus supervised the intelligence community while having full knowledge of military capabilities and deep connections thruout the regions where we need friends and contacts. His departure is a huge loss, even if only short term. Implicating Allen is also worrisome. Yes he was about to leave, but POTUS may have considered him for some future role in this administration. Again a person of great value. Petraeus wasn't just head of the CIA, he was an internationally repscted military commander and a person of great international influence. To say I've overstated this fails to fully appreciate the effects it will have. Hopefully yes, maybe short lived, but there will definitely be some damage to repair. As for Petraeus's closed door testimony, what he testifies too will assuredly be made public within appropriate limitations. And he will not have weight or authority in the public arena. Right now the general public now sees him as somewhat ridiculous at best. So this affects his credibility short term, no matter how or if his image is rehabilitated.

• If limpballs is trying to blow it off, then it's something that's pretty damning to rethugs, you can bet on it.

• Why oh why can't the FBI get something more on Limbaugh? Him and his lies tore this country apart.

• The password was "peaches".

• Jesus Christ. Talk about unintended consequences and collateral damage. Her sister's dirty laundry is being aired. And how. Both Petraeus and Allen wrote character references for the custody trial. It didn't turn out well for them or her. It could ruin whatever career she might be able to salvage from this.: [quote]"profound concerns about Ms. Khawam's poor logical thinking and her extreme distortions" and "severe psychological deficits." Court documents state that Khawam "was terminated from at least four consecutive positions of employment within the first five years following her graduation from law school, is a psychologically unstable person whose unsteady moral and ethical compass and apparent lack of awareness of her own shortcomings make it impossible for her successfully to navigate her surroundings in a consistent and sustainable way." I wonder if the 20 to 30K pages of e-mails involved correspondence about the divorce or contained court docs to make it that voluminous.

  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57549142/petraeus-allen-sided-with-jill-kelleys-sister-in-child-custody-battle/

• One thing we haven't considered is the possibility that the timing of this thing breaking the same time Obama was re-elected, could be a giant fuck you to Netanyahu. Was the CIA in bed with Israel and planning to attack Iran?

• good god.

• Jill and her husband are like the Salahis. Live in high style, but are massively in debt and being sued by creditors. This fact may add another dimension to the story.

• Oh, Jesus, R563. Really. Funny that these top generals hand out character references to a complete whack job on the basis of a social connection to her sister. That's pretty embarrassing and irresponsible.

• [quote I'll give Limbaugh credit. I turned him on expecting to hear outrage, but he's just shaking his head over this, and not trying to pin it on Obama. He calls it "Real Housewives of West Point."] If Rush is trying to minimze this - then he knows ALL of the dirt is going to splatter on Repubs; or, knows it's their dirty tricks gone awray.

• Right now things may be "sensitive with Israel, but Israel is our surrogate in Syria right now,lobbing missiles and asisting in weakening the Assad regime. Netanyahu lost standing by supporting Romney and he did support Romney. He has made himself very vulnerable at home. I suspect Limbaugh & the GOP are still attempting to develop their line of attack on the Petraeus matter. Limbaugh will figure it out soon, and begin leveling his attack and his allegations. They can't use the "Why didn't you tell us sooner" argument too long without looking like impotent assholes. This will eventually be about Benghazi. They are waiting for those hearings, drooling for them.

• This story was supposed to come out before the election but because hurricane Sandy took hold of the media for more than one week before it hit the coast the story wasn't revealed. Sandy probably saved Obama but not as the way Repugs say it did.

• r569 -- no. There is hardly anything about this story that would have harmed Obama's chances of being reelected. This is about a bunch of freaky republican idiots. Not potus.

• So are the right wingers going to blame Cantor now for not breaking the story to the press?

• R570, if the story had broken one week before the election, no one would have had all the details which are surfacing right now. Think about it: the head of the CIA resigning one week before an election. This would have convinced a lot of reactionary voters to think twice about Obama.

  R569

• The story that R562 posted isn't news; it's the worst kind of gossip. Petraeus and Allen wrote letters in support of a petition stripping her of the custody of her son. All they did was report on their own observations of how she behaved toward her son while in their presence. So what? The world already knows that Jill Kelley and her sister had a social relationship with these men. The shirtless photos of the obsessed FBI agent with a political agenda, Kelley's flirtatious and voluminous e-mails with Allen (potentially criminal conduct for him, if they're coincident to an adulterous affair), the stay-away-from-my-man emails that kicked off the investigation--fine. All that is part of the news story. The details of Jill Kelley's sister's finances and her custody battle are not newsworthy. I shudder to think of what's coming next.

• [quote]I shudder to think of what's coming next. Possibly that Ms. Kelley, self-proclaimed social liason (no such thing in reality) may be a bit Heidi Fleiss-ish. You know, a kind of military madame. This would explain the very high profile lawyer and her father's words about this not being what it seems and there's more unraveling to come.

• Schaedenfreude.

• I wonder what conspiracy the right will come up with next since Petraeus can still be made to testify by Congress. They're such fucking idiots

• [quote]I'll give Limbaugh credit. I turned him on expecting to hear outrage, but he's just shaking his head over this, and not trying to pin it on Obama. He calls it "Real Housewives of West Point." Oh please STFU. The only time Limbaugh would ever be worthy of credit is if he committed a murder-suicide involving himself and the rest of the lunatics like him, doing humanity a huge favor.

• I have this fantasy, R577. Rove & Limbaugh having dinner togehter at some posh resort in Boca Raton,FLA....the same waiter who taped Romney happens to be working there, only this time, he has Oxycontin capsules. He dissolves a lethal does into their fifth bottle of wine...

• [quote]The Pentagon investigation isn’t looking at any potential breaches of classified information between Allen and Kelley, a difference between the subject of this inquiry and the FBI investigation that ultimately led Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to insist that Petraeus retire. [bold]But the Defense Department official twice punted on questions about whether Allen and Petraeus are the only two generals that came under FBI scrutiny.[/bold] [quote]Allen told the judge that he came to know the Kelley family “at command social functions” in Tampa, and it convinced him of Khawam’s fitness to raise her son: “In light of Natalie’s maturity, integrity and steadfast commitment to raising her child, I humbly request your reconsideration of the existing mandated custody settlement.” Hmm. [quote]Kelley is not a U.S. government employee, the Defense Department official said — although Washington Post reporter Ernesto Londono tweeted a photo of her license plate, which bears the stamp “Honorary Consul.” Tee hee.

  http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/allen-flirtatious/

• [quote] CNBC explained how Petraeus and Broadwell handled their emails, and it's kind of clever. They had one Gmail account and they both had the password. Instead of sending each other emails (which left a record)left them in the Gmail account. They logged in, read each others drafts, and never left a trail. Or so they thought. This is how terrorists communicate and so it caught the FBI's attention. You'd think Petraeus would have known that. What's wrong with the telephone? When you are having an affair don't you want to hear your lover's voice? I do. Is there no romance left? I don't think anyone would have been all that suspicious of normal, friendly emails between the two given the biography and the circumstances. It would have been natural for them to become friendly.

• What's up with this? Isn't this park a popular place to meet and fuck? The woman revealed to have been carrying on an affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus lost her driver's license in a Washington, D.C., park recently, sources tell U.S. News. A Maryland National Capital Park Police spokesman confirmed that a jogger found a North Carolina license in Rock Creek Park belonging to Paula Broadwell. Park Police planned to hold it for 90 days, per policy, and then send it back to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The Park Police also alerted the FBI, says Bill Kellogg, a spokesman for the Park Police. The FBI did not initially return calls for comment on the report.

  http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/11/13/paula-broadwell-driver-license-found-in-dc-park

• Holy Christ. How much is that chick regretting whining to her FBI admirer at this point?

  A%20LOT

• *Ahem* Phones can be tapped... you know

  Rupert%20Murdoch%20

• Rumor: Kelley's sister "dated" Charlie Christ.

• This will eventually include everyone

• Batshit Broadwell used pseudonym "Kelley Patrol" when writing to Gen. Allen. -Wall Street Journal

• Someone commented on TPM that the shirtless photos were of a female agent. I have no idea if it's true, but wouldn't that be a kicker?

• [quote]Gen. Allen Told Officials No Affair Was Involved

  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595904578117220762673706.html%3Fmod%3De2tw

• The real Petraeus scandal How did a cyber-harassment complaint trigger an electronic dragnet that toppled a CIA director?

  http://www.salon.com/2012/11/13/the_real_petraeus_scandal/

• The reason being (for the female theory) was the use of the pronoun "her" or "she" with regards to the agent in one of the reports. Should have put that in my original post.

• R554, there is some interesting information on the election threads explaining how Obama won the election. Some of it was based on interviews with the Romney team who were very admiring of the strategy. Part of what BO's people did was to pinpoint the smaller community, neighborhoods, community groups and other groups. They directed their message there rather than focusing more globally on an entire state (the traditional method of campaigning). To that end, they had small campaign headquarters scattered all over some states. In Ohio they had over 100 more headquarters than Romney did; they operated out of those headquarters to talk to individuals and smaller groups. While Romney's camp were making fun of Obama for not having much experience outside of being a community organizer, Obama was using that experience to quietly and effectively organize the community. He did what he knew best how to do. Small black colleges would fit that strategy perfectly. They needed to get out the vote -- particularly the young, black vote. What better place to bring that about than a black college? MO was a very effective campaigner in those smaller groups. She's also very good one on one, and people come away from those encounters liking her. I doubt her going to black colleges was for security reasons. It was her milieu.

• Seems to me that the politicizing this event is well, stupid. Rush finally got something right: "real housewives of West Point". Petraeus is wrecklessly having an affair with a wreckless married woman and other wreckless people are involved in a web of accusations and finger pointing and all round stupid behavior. All of this formula for a good reality show on the TV. And the world goes round... Petraeus turns out to be a flawed man willing to risk his career and huge responsibilities over a wing nut chick (with credentials). Harvard means you may be smart, but it does not mean you have emotional intelligence. And Patraeus is hardly the first man to behave like a 13 year old cause stealing cigarettes. The list is long and that is only the ones who have been "caught". This is the proverbial tempest in a teapot, important only for the fact that heavy breathing (not lying to Congress, not lying to the UN, not attacking a nation based on those lies etc) is a high crime in the court of public opinion. Right up there with letting your towel down while you wiggle into your tighty-whiteys at the gym. Beware, an American general or politician could be lurking with a cell phone!!! Oh the shame and humiliation of it all. Americans are prudes, and if not that hypocrits. Frankly I love it when self righteous prigs like this general get caught with their pants down. I do mourn when it cuts short a political career that I thought was going to do the country/world some good (Spitzer) comes to an end or gives amunition to the crazed Republican prudes and tight asses. Petraeus was not such a man. He was at odds with Obama's decision to get out these wars ASAP (without looking like we are doing just that.)

  charlie

• Pretty late to the party. So Cantor was hoping for an October Surprise that would have hurt Obama but it bounced back on one of their own (right hand not knowing what the other right hand is doing - there are no left hands!)? That's so delicious it must be fattening.

• The Salon article hits the nail on the head. An unwarranted, unjustified electronic intrusion brought at the behest on an unhinged agent. Damn. I think I've used the word "unhinged" about a half dozen times this week. [quote] “Having the career of the beloved CIA Director and the commanding general in Afghanistan instantly destroyed due to highly invasive and unwarranted electronic surveillance is almost enough to make one believe not only that there is a god, but that he is an ardent civil libertarian.”

• Discussion continued at the link....

  http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html%23page:showThread%2C12129689%2C1

• Live by the sword, die by the sword, R594.

• Everyone in govt and in high positions fools around etc. It is only singled out in certain cases for other, political reasons.

• Love that yellow frock!

• r589, the link in the article you cited gives you the answer: they're all spooks of varying degrees. The Bureau was covering their asses in case anything blew up, especially before the election.

• We were doing all that cheating in our 20s and gossiping about it but how old are these people? Still acting and sounding like school girls.

• [quote]Petraeus is wrecklessly having an affair with a wreckless married woman and other wreckless people are involved in a web of accusations and finger pointing and all round stupid behavior. Use a word 3 times & it's yours -- even if you can't spell it....

• [quote] a jogger found a North Carolina license in Rock Creek Park Ripped from the headlines!