Spring 2006:
- Paula Broadwell meets David Petraeus at a Harvard University function (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).
- Broadwell decides to pursue a doctorate in public policy and conduct a case study on Petraeus’ leadership. Petraeus invites her to go on a run in Washington, D.C. (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).
- Petraeus is put in charge of the war in Afghanistan and Broadwell would visit and observe him in Afghanistan (Reuters, Nov. 11, 2012).
- Senate confirms appointment of Petraeus as CIA director (Reuters).
- Petraeus retires after 37 years in the U.S. Army (ABC).
- White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan reportedly became aware of a relationship between Petraeus and Broadwell, according to Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin and Adam Housley (Fox, Nov. 12).
- Petreaus sworn in as CIA director (CIA)
- At some point after taking office, Broadwell broke off the affair but Petraeus continued to pursue her “sending thousands of emails over the last several months, raising even more questions about his judgment,” according to Newsmax chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler (Newsmax, Nov. 9).
- Broadwell and Petraeus extramarital affair started after he left military service and ended about four months ago. (Reuters, Nov. 11).
- Sometime within the past four or five months – one official said “early summer” – a woman complained to the FBI about harassing emails that were later determined to have been written by Broadwell. In the course of investigating that complaint, the FBI discovered an affair between Broadwell and Petraeus (Reuters, Nov. 11).
Spring 2012:
- FBI starts investigation, intercepting Petraeus’ emails and reviewing older emails going back to his time in Afghanistan, where he was commander of U.S. Forces from July 2010 to July 2011 (Newsmax, Nov. 9).
- Federal investigators interview Broadwell. (Reuters, Nov. 11).
- Broadwell delivers speech at University of Denver, discussing details about how Petraeus handled the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and revealing possibly classified information about alleged Libyan militia members being held prisoner at that consulate and that situation may have been a potential catalyst for the attack (Fox News, Nov. 12).
- Federal investigators interview Petraeus. Prosecutors conclude afterward they likely will not bring criminal charges. (Reuters, Nov. 11)
- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office contacts FBI to inform them about information from an FBI whistle blower who told Cantor (R-Va.) in late October that Petraeus had been involved in an extramarital affair and was potentially putting national security at risk (New York Times, Nov. 10, 2012).
- At about 5 p.m.: the FBI notifies Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who oversees the CIA and other intelligence agencies, about Petraeus. Clapper speaks to Petraeus that evening and again Wednesday and advises him to step down (Reuters, Nov. 11).
- Clapper informs White House National Security Council official that Petraeus may resign and President Barack Obama should be informed. The president is told about it later that day (Reuters, Nov. 11).
- At 11 a.m. a Petraeus meeting with foreign dignitaries scheduled for 2:30 p.m. is canceled and his visitors are informed he has to go to the White House to meet with Obama. Petraeus meets with Obama at the White House and offers his resignation, explaining the circumstances behind it. Obama did not immediately accept the resignation (Reuters, Nov. 11).
- In a statement to CIA employees Friday, Petraeus said he submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama on Thursday and Obama accepted it Friday afternoon (CIA).
- Fox News reported the affair was with his biographer and was discovered during the course of an FBI investigation on an “unrelated and much broader case.” According to Fox, journalist and biographer Paula Broadwell’s name came up during the investigation, which led to uncovering the affair (Fox News, Nov. 9).
- Fox News analyst Ralph Peters, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, speculates that Obama administration knew of the affair and waited for the right moment to “play the card” (Fox News, Nov. 9)
- A senior U.S. military official says Broadwell sent harassing emails to a woman who was the State Department’s liaison to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, says 37-year-old Jill Kelley in Tampa, Fla., received the emails from Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell that triggered an FBI investigation. (TheBlaze/AP).
- It has since been learned that the commander who replaced Patraeus in Afganistan as head of US Forces, Four-Star General John Allen, was also an "acquaintance" of Jill Kelley, and he too sent "thousands" of "flirtatious" emails to Kelley.
- In addition, the original FBI agent that Kelley approached to complain about the threatening emails from Broadwell also became obsessed with Kelley. The FBI discovered this about their own agent via multiple "shirtless" emails he sent with suggestive captioning.
TWO POINTS, as it pertains to the POTUS, and Benghazi.
1.) The POTUS
As an intelligent, informed, high end consumer of news and information, the White House would have me believe the following: the FBI only learned of the affair after Kelley went to them in the Spring of 2012, and NOT during the Summer 2011 FBI vetting of Patraeus for the position of CIA director; that the president's own top terrorism advisor, John Brennan, knew about the affair as early as the summer of 2011; that Attorney General Eric Holder knew about it as early as July 2012; that GOP Majority Whip Eric Cantor knew about the affair in October of 2012; and that National Intelligence Director James Clapper not only knew about the affair, but on Nov 6th, 2012 met with and essentially fired Patraeus, AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DIDN'T LEARN ABOUT ANY OF THIS UNTIL THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION?
Come on. Clearly he knew. I'd be shocked if he didn't know prior to referring him as Director of Central Intelligence.
2.) Benghazi
Not as widely reported as "sex under the desk" is the fact that Patraes went to Tripoli and Benghazi at the end of October/early November 2012 (read: right before the election). He conducted interviews with the CIA station chief, with the quick reaction force, and other principles in the Benghazi attack. Think about this - the Director went and did a personal investigation into what happened. He did the interviews himself. He was set to testify, before the Senate, on Tuesday, November 13th (today) on what he found. Think about that - the election was November 6th. His testimony was set for November 13th. there was one week only, one very specific week, that the Patraeus affair/resignation could go public and it not effect the election yet come before his testimony. And MIRACULOUSLY he "resigned" that very week!
I don't know what Patraeus discovered in Benghazi or what he was prepared to divulge to the Senate. Were we supplying Al Qeada types with heavy weapons to overthrow Qaddafi? Were those same weapons then used against us in the Benghazi attack? Was the "stand down" order issued from the White House situation room? Broadwell has since publicly claimed (apparently inadvertently) that the CIA had two "persons of interests" being "interrogated" at that CIA safe house and that was the impetus behind its' attack. Of course, such "interrogations" would not fly with Obama's executive order on torture.
The bottom line (as F. Ryan sees it): One, the POTUS put Patraeus in as CIA director knowing about the affair. I assume they saw that bit of info as a card they could play if necessary, so the affair was a plus, not a minus - this is the Chicago style. And two, clearly the administration was seeking to prevent Patraeus' testimony. They probably (my conjecture) offered to keep the affair quiet if he would tow the administration line on Benghazi, under oath, before congress. He refused, resigned, and publicly acknowledged the affair to take their play away. So the only play the administration has left is to delay Patraeus' testifying for as long as possible as they leak out one perverted detail after another so by the time he testifies his credibility is shot and any damning statements will be chalked up to sour grapes. And that play could work given the Press core contains some of Obama's most devout cult members.
If I'm right, Patraeus should go nuclear now and divulge everything he knows short of national secrets act violations. At this point his credibility still retains enough respect for people to believe him. If he waits, who knows.
One last thing.... yes, I do believe the administration's end game in all of this is to keep the truth about Benghazi from seeing the light of day. Their many and varied stories on what happened makes that clear, as does the obvious move to prevent the Patraeus testimony. But the blade they held to Patraeus' neck before he resigned, and the club they're using to smash his credibility now, Patraeus handed those weapons to them on a silver platter. His affair left him vulnerable. I just hope he has enough honor left that he'll opt for personal shame - the public release of all the administration has on him - rather than lie to congress and the public, either directly or through omission. I think our discovering the truth on Benghazi hinges entirely on that man's honor.
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