FBI concludes former CIA head’s extramarital liaison did not jeopardise nation’s safety as Hollywood scrambles to cash in on scandal

Classified material kept by the woman who conducted an affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus predates their liaison and does not come from the spy agency, sources briefed on the investigation said.

The finding appears to bolster assertions by both Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, that their affair did not put national security secrets at risk – a central question hovering over the scandal that brought down one of America’s most respected public figures last week.

The CIA said it had opened an “exploratory” investigation into Petraeus’s conduct, building on the FBI’s probe. Law enforcement officials have said they believe the FBI investigation is likely to end without criminal charges.

The scandal has cast a spotlight on the private lives of some of the nation’s top national security officials.

The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, Marine General John Allen, now faces a Pentagon inspector general’s review of what sources describe as “flirtatious” e-mails with a Tampa socialite.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the military’s top brass to look for any gaps in ethics amid concerns officers’ lapses in judgment could erode public confidence in the military. Travelling in Bangkok, Panetta said he knew of no other military officials who have been drawn into the investigation.

Petraeus and Broadwell have separately told investigators they did not share security secrets and Petraeus has repeated that assertion to associates and a television reporter.

In his first public comments on the matter, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday the FBI did not see any possible threats over the course of the investigation that were urgent enough to notify President Barack Obama or lawmakers until shortly before Petraeus stepped down.

FBI agents have found a substantial amount of classified information on Broadwell’s personal computer since they searched her North Carolina, home with her consent on Monday.

Sources briefed on the investigation said the documents date from before August 2011, when Petraeus took up his post at the CIA and the two started their affair. None of the material comes from the CIA.

As an army reserve officer involved in military intelligence, Broadwell had a security clearance that allowed her to handle sensitive documents. However, she would still have to comply with strict rules that lay out how sensitive materials must be protected.

Broadwell’s security clearance has now been suspended. She could have it revoked and face harsher penalties if it is found she mishandled classified data.

Petraeus’s remarks notwithstanding, investigators said they had not ruled out the possibility that he passed on classified material to Broadwell.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing law enforcement investigation.

Broadwell, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, has made no public comment since the scandal erupted last week.

Some lawmakers have questioned why they were not notified of the probe until after last week’s presidential election.

Holder, at a news conference in New Orleans, defended the Justice Department’s handling of the case and its sharing of information with top Obama administration officials.

“After a pretty critical interview occurred the Friday before we made that disclosure, when we got to that point where we thought it was appropriate to share the information, we did so,” Holder said at a news conference.

Who’s who in the hall of shame

David Petraeus

A four-star army general praised for his leadership of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Petraeus, 60, moved into the civilian world to become CIA director in September 2011. He shocked Washington last week by admitting an extramarital affair with his biographer and resigning.

Paula Broadwell

Now a 40-year-old author and married mother of two young children, she was a West Point-educated army reservist and graduate student when she met Petraeus at Harvard in 2006. She later embarked on a case study on his leadership of the Iraq War. After he took the helm in Afghanistan, Broadwell expanded her work into a biography, gaining un-precedented access to Petraeus and his commanders. It’s called All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.

Their affair began in November 2011, a couple of months after he became CIA director. It ended last summer.

The relationship was exposed after Broadwell sent e-mails to another woman, Jill Kelley, warning her to stay away from Petraeus, officials said.

Natalie Khawam

Jill Kelley’s twin sister also socialised with the two generals. Both Petraeus and Allen wrote letters praising Khawam as a devoted mother to help her in a bitter child custody battle with her ex-husband. Earlier in that divorce case, Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz had criticised Khawam for a lack of honesty and “misrepresentations about virtually everything”.

John Allen

The four-star marine general who followed in Petraeus’s foot-steps at Central Command and then as top US commander in Afghanistan is now following him into choppy waters.

The Pentagon is investigating 20,000 pages of documents and e-mails involving Allen, who is married, and Kelley. Some of the communications were “flirtatious”, according to a senior defence official.

Like Petraeus, Allen, 58, was part of the Florida social circle, and he moved up to acting commander when Petraeus left for Afghanistan. When Petraeus came home from Afghanistan, Allen moved into the top job there – his current post.

President Barack Obama has nominated Allen to take over US European Command and lead all Nato forces in Europe. That has been put on hold. He denies any wrongdoing and remains in charge in Afghanistan.

Holly Petraeus

Petraeus’s wife of 38 years and mother of their two grown children is in charge of service member assistance at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is a well-known advocate for military families. Mrs Petraeus is said to be devastated by her husband’s infidelity. “Furious would be an understatement,” a family friend said.

The shirtless FBI agent

And then there is this unnamed character: the FBI agent to whom Jill Kelley first took her complaint was a long-time friend. And he had once sent her shirtless photos of himself.

He passed Kelley’s information along to others for investigation and was subsequently told to steer clear of the case because his superiors worried that he had become obsessed with it, the official said.

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