Panetta: Appears Petraeus scandal won't widen

Gen. John Allen (left) and Gen. David Petraeus at Kabul International Airport, in Afghanistan, in July 2011 / Paul J. Richards-Pool/Getty Images

BANGKOK Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday he knows of no other senior U.S. military officers being linked to the David Petraeus investigation that has ensnared the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen.

Speaking at a Bangkok news conference, Panetta said he retains confidence in Allen.

Panetta said he is not going to characterize in any way the nature of emails and other correspondence between Allen and Florida socialite Jill Kelley, which others have called flirtatious and potentially problematic for the Marine general.

Panetta said he wants to be careful with his words in order not to jeopardize the Pentagon inspector general investigation he ordered Monday.

Panetta also told reporters that he could not rule out the possibility that the Taliban in Afghanistan would try to use Petraeus' admission of an extramarital affair with his biographer, former Army intelligence officer Paula Broadwell, for propaganda purposes.

The FBI's investigation of the matter began last summer, when Kelley turned over emails, later traced to Broadwell, that had been sent to her and Allen. Officials tell CBS News the emails to Kelley told her to stay away from Petraeus. This was about the time Broadwell and Petraeus broke off their affair. Sources say that, when Petraeus learned Broadwell was sending harassing emails to Kelley, he asked her to stop.

A federal law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that Broadwell sent emails to senior military officials in addition to Allen.

The official characterizes the emails as an attempt to undermine the reputation of Kelley, who was friendly with Petraeus and Allen.

The official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

• Petraeus scandal timeline
• FBI agent linked to Petraeus scandal identified
• Official: Emails between Gen. John Allen and Fla. socialite "flirtatious"
• Details of Petraeus affair emerge as scandal engulfs Gen. John Allen
• Two women in Petraeus sex scandal lose security clearance
• Jill Kelley: A look at her close ties to top military brass

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr explains that, in late summer, Kelley told then CIA Director Petraeus she had received at least six e-mails from Broadwell that she described as upsetting. Kelley, who saw the e-mails as a possible threat, had taken them to a friend, a local FBI agent, who helped her uncover the identity of the sender.

Law enforcement sources now identify that agent as 47-year old Frederick Humphries.

They describe him as a solid agent with a good history. Humphries is also a veteran counter-terrorism agent.

Humphries took Kelley's complaint to the cyber squad in the FBI's Tampa field office. That move triggered the investigation that ultimately uncovered the affair of Broadwell and Petraeus and led to the probe of Allen.

Petraeus, who resigned Friday from his post as CIA director, was Allen's predecessor as top commander in Afghanistan.

Allen has been nominated by President Obama to lead NATO, but that nomination has been put on hold.

At a news conference Wednesday, President Obama said no classified information was compromised in the scandal that forced Petraeus to quit after an FBI probe discovered the affair.

The same FBI investigation uncovered the emails between Allen and Kelley, who hosted functions for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, where both Allen and Petraeus worked.

Allen has said he has done nothing wrong and has not written anything to Kelley that would preclude his nomination.

A search of Broadwell's computer turned up intimate emails with Petraeus and also revealed Broadwell may have mishandled some classified information that she'd collected for her book.

But law enforcement officials say the investigation never uncovered a threat to national security. And FBI Director Robert Mueller told House Intelligence Committee lawmakers Wednesday that was the primary reason they were not briefed on the investigation.

The FBI found a substantial number of classified documents on Broadwell's computer, and she has told agents she took classified documents out of secure government buildings.

The bureau also found classified documents in the search of Broadwell's house Monday in Charlotte, N.C. Broadwell had agreed to the search and had told agents in advance that there would be more of them there.

[167irishboy]

O.k. what the guy did was wrong, but lets hear the rest of the story that never comes out, which is no excuse, just reality.

I, like 99% of you guys out there who have been married for 25 years or more, know that this guy was getting lucky at home, maybe once a yearly quarter, once a month if he was really lucky. The difference between him and the regular schmuck guy like the rest of us on the street that's not getting any is that he is a 4 star general and a young beautiful woman may come on to him. I don't care how high a mans position of responsibility is, when you have been without for as long as most long term married men go, a beautiful young woman would tempt any of us if she truly opened the door of opportunity.

We never hear about how sweet wonderful wifey who everyone loves has cut her man off for years. We only hear what a dirt bag the guy is.

[littlebuddyd]

Really? It's the wifes fault? I thought it was George W's fault.

[rdthis]

Going by the title, Of course the scandal won't widen, Obama will pass an Executive Order, and fix it.

[mainegingerlarry]

It seems this Kelley woman is an over-indulged bimbo who got her ha-ha's by titillating a 4 star general nearly 8,000 miles away. Fairly harmless, but she could easily have had some live action at one of Tampa's many cocktail lounges. General Allen can be forgiven. He is a lonely man far from home. At least he wasn't banging one of the local Afghan women.

[jayburd2020]

Does anyone feel the media is starting to unfairly pile it on poor Jill Kelley? Where's Ann Romney to defend a fellow stay-at-home mom-inaire when we need her? In other news, I'm glad the Obama Administration is moving quickly to name Petraeus' successor, and the FluffingtonPost has the funny exclusive details: http://******/TCAE4b

[mainegingerlarry]

Jill Kelley is simply a bored rich housewife excited by connections to the rich and famous. She yearns to be part of Florida's version of "The Kardashians." No doubt she was turned on by the thought of a 4 star general masturbating to her e-mails while serving in the wilds of Afghanistan. Perhaps she thought this was "safe sex" but it rather backfired on her and the good general. I think she will recover and show up unfettered at the next Tampa area cocktail party.

[mainegingerlarry]

Why has Panetta not been fired?

[netndx]

Boo Hiss CBS for your coverage on Benghazi. Once again you push the distraction.

You are weak and compliant

[David_Tampa]

BTW GOP Another one of your elite in Tampa needs some help paying her bills. What a BS'er Jill Kelley is. Another South Tampa nickle millionaire. I see that she is trying to get Wikipedia to delete her info. Man I would love to read the texts between her "friends". Maybe the Rupert Murdoch family can work on that for us hahahahahah

[David_Tampa]

What a hilarious statement..... Ya wanna Bet a dollar Panetta? Sheesh!

[ammo17]

and we should believe this man.WHY?there were too,too many military and national security leaks not to investigate all.who is this civilian to have all this classifeid material.someone had to give it too her.you can`t blame this woman ,the un ammbassador she takes her orders from the whitehouse.

[democracy8]

She is NOT the UN ambassador, try again.

[RGRobins]

I wish the GOP and all the Payton Place snoops would just leave people to work out their own personal problems. I don't want to know what kind of shenanigans other people are involved in with their private parts in their private lives. As long as somebody's doing the job he or she is paid to do don't bother me with the personal drama. Oh yeah, and quit trying to turn Benghazi into more than it was. Four dead in Benghazi. Tragic, but not an incident of epic, global proportions. And anyway, what kind of twisted society turns on itself and eats its own when attacked by outsiders? You would have to be Tea Party insane to think anybody on our side wanted that attack to happen and those American lives to be lost. So FOX & followers, show a little decency and give it a rest already.

[netndx]

honestly you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Smilestoo]

There were more people killed on 9/11/01 right here in the U.S under Bush's nose.