Gen. David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell Affair: New Details

It seems a woman named Jill Kelley is the one who indirectly exposed Gen. David Petraeus’ affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, which eventually led to the CIA director's resignation.

Kelley, a personal friend of Petraeus’ and a State Department liaison to a Counterterrorism Unit, allegedly began receiving harassing emails from Broadwell asking her to “stay away” from Petraeus. The 37-year-old reported the messages, sparking an investigation by the FBI, says the Daily Beast.

Jill, who is married with three children, is trying to stay out of the scandal. She released a statement saying, “We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three children.”

The FBI saw Broadwell's emails to Kelley as a security threat, says the Beast, and began investigating. They found thousands of emails regarding his infidelity with Broadwell – even some sexually explicit messages referencing sex under a desk, according to the Daily Mail.

The relationship began innocently enough as Harvard student Paula asked David for help with her dissertation on counterterrorism. Eventually, she was making regular trips to see him in Afghanistan and turned the paper into a book called “All In.”

Broadwell often spoke publicly about the book and the General, including memorable stops by the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and Don Imus show on the Fox Business Network.



The cheating scandal put an end to the General’s military career, which included leading troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the wake of his resignation, he told his CIA colleagues in a statement, "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

Petraeus and his wife, high school sweetheart Holly, have two children together. Broadwell is married to an interventional radiologist named Scott and the couple has two sons.