NEW YORK TIMES: High-level officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department were notified in the late summer that F.B.I. agents had uncovered what appeared to be an extramarital affair involving the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David H. Petraeus, government officials said Sunday.
But law enforcement officials did not notify anyone outside the F.B.I. or the Justice Department until last week because the investigation was incomplete and initial concerns about possible security breaches, which would demand more immediate action, did not appear to be justified, the officials said.
The new accounts of the events that led to Mr. Petraeus’s sudden resignation on Friday shed light on the competing pressures facing F.B.I. agents who recognized the high stakes of any investigation involving the C.I.A. director but who were wary of exposing a private affair with no criminal or security implications. For the first time Sunday, the woman whose report of harassing e-mails led to the exposure of the affair was identified as Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Fla… (more)
EDITOR: Fortunately for many, there is no law against extra marital affairs. Do we want the FBI under our beds?
On the other hand, General Petraeus holds an especially sensitive position and heads an agency which prohibits such conduct for security reasons. This would not apply to most government positions.
The Associate Press reports that the affair took place prior to Petraeus becoming CIA director and that he broke it off when he undertook the assignment.
We suspect a phone call was made from the FBI to Petraeus and he withheld his resignation until after the election so that it would not become a political event.
