11/13/2012

FBI agent sent shirtless photos to Kelley, officials say

Military officials announced that up to 30,000 pages of "potentially inappropriate" e-mails connect Gen. John Allen, who replaced former CIA Director David Petraeus as commander in Afghanistan last year, to Jill Kelley, the woman whose initial complaint launched the FBI probe into the connection between Petraeus and his biographer Paula Broadwell. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

By NBC News staff

The FBI agent who was asked by Jill Kelley to look into disturbing emails she received was later taken off the case for inappropriate behavior, officials told NBC News.

The agent's supervisors felt he was infatuated with Kelley, whom he knew before the investigation, and had expressed his affection for her inappropriately. 

That included sending shirtless pictures of himself to Kelley before the email probe began, officials told NBC News.

The agent, who the FBI declined to identify, became concerned the investigation over the threatening emails – allegedly sent by Paula Broadwell, Gen. David Petraeus' biographer and a woman with whom he is believed to have had an affair – was not being taken seriously by the FBI, officials said. He then contacted Republicans on the Hill. 


House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's office called the FBI on Oct. 31 asserting that it had heard from an FBI agent who raised concerns that the Petraeus matter was being covered up or not being taken seriously.

Those who know the two women at the center of General David Petraeus' affair scandal are speaking out. Jill Kelley's brother says she is "dedicated" to her husband, while Paula Broadwell's friend calls her "a pretty great person." NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

"I was contacted by an FBI employee concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised and made certain (FBI Director Robert) Mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security," Cantor said in a statement.

Cantor's office was told that the case was being actively investigated by the FBI, and so it would have been wrong for the FBI or Justice Department to inform higher level officials in the administration about the probe earlier -- because they were unsure at that point what they were dealing with. In the end, according to multiple officials, investigators determined there was no criminal wrongdoing.

The agent provides yet another link to Kelley, who has become a central figure in the scandal that led to the resignation of Petraeus over his affair with Broadwell: Her complaint to the FBI kicked off the investigation into Petraeus, and her emails with another major military figure, Gen. John Allen, have led to an investigation over allegations of "inappropriate" emails between Allen and Kelley. 

Military officials announced that up to 30,000 pages of "potentially inappropriate" e-mails connect Allen, who replaced Petraeus as commander in Afghanistan last year, to Kelley.

Ret. Col. Jack Jacobs weighs in on the scandal that has ensnared former CIA chief David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen, telling TODAY's Savannah Guthrie that Allen has a stellar career and great reputation but he "wouldn't be surprised" if his NATO nomination was withdrawn.

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