FBI agent in Petraeus scandal was seen as a hero

This undated photograph obtained by The Seattle Times shows FBI Special Agent Frederick W. Humphries posing with target dummies following a SWAT practice in an unknown location. / AP Photo/Special to The Seattle Times

TAMPA, Fla. FBI Special Agent Frederick Humphries II played a key role in investigating a terrorist attack aimed at blowing up Los Angeles International Airport just as the year 2000 dawned.

Today, the agent, who also fatally shot a knife-wielding man in 2010, finds himself in the middle of the scandal that has resulted in CIA Director David Petraeus' resignation.

Humphries, 47, was the agent who initially saw the emails the FBI said Petraeus' biographer and mistress, Paula Broadwell, sent to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, a woman she apparently saw as a rival for Petraeus' affections. She also allegedly sent emails to Gen. John Allen, Kelley's friend and the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Concerned about the emails, Kelley contacted Humphries in June. Kelley had attended a 2011 FBI Citizens Academy, a program aimed at teaching the public and journalists about the agency, and Humphries lectured one night about terrorism, according to Natalie Shepherd, a Tampa TV reporter who was there.

Humphries, a former Army captain who worked in military intelligence, thought the emails raised serious concerns because the anonymous author knew the comings and goings of Allen and Petraeus, a former general who had preceded Allen in Afghanistan. His report back to the FBI started the investigation that led to Broadwell and uncovered her affair with Petraeus.

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Word of Humphries' concerns about the case reached Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., who relayed them to Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and arranged for Humphries to speak directly with Cantor about the case on Oct. 27, according to a federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak on the record about an ongoing case and therefore demanded anonymity.

Lawrence Berger, the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in an interview Wednesday that his client, Humphries, did nothing wrong and should not be disciplined. "He's committed no misconduct," Berger said and predicted he would be cleared of any misconduct.

A shirtless photograph of Humphries also helped land the agent in hot water. The Seattle Times reported that Humphries sent the photograph to Kelley and others, including one of the paper's reporters, in an email Sept. 9, 2010.

18 Photos

CIA Director David Petraeus resigns

The subject line read: "Which one is Fred?" The photo showed "Humphries — bald, muscular and shirtless — standing between a pair of equally buff and bullet-ridden target dummies on a shooting range," the newspaper reported.

Humphries joined the FBI in 1996 and first came to prominence in 1999 during the investigation of an Algerian man who was arrested by U.S. Customs agents as he tried to enter Washington state from Canada by ferry. Ahmed Ressam had white powder, chemicals and homemade timing devices in the trunk of his car.

Ressam claimed to be a French-speaker from Quebec, and according to a 2002 Seattle Times story, Humphries, then the only French-speaker assigned to the FBI's Seattle office, was asked to question him. It was later learned Ressam was part of an al Qaeda plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport on New Year's Eve 1999.

16 Photos

Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell

By 2010, Humphries had been assigned to the FBI's Tampa office and was its liaison to MacDill, home to the military's Central Command.

On May 19, 2010, 61-year-old Army veteran Ronald J. Bullock, who was camping at the base, got into an altercation with base security.

Officials said Bullock sped off on a motorcycle, but was stopped by other security officers and Humphries as he tried to exit a gate. They said he got off the motorcycle and came at Humphries and the officers while brandishing a knife. Humphries fired, killing Bullock. The shooting was later ruled justified.

[nohater]

guess even an fbi agent can be a macaroon. the macaroons are everywhere these days. darwin is asleep on his watch.

[Indyswim66]

Ummm.... you don't see Humphries' behavior as a bit... weird?

[nohater]

yep. can see the photo as a gag among buddies but sending it out is definitely out there.

[MIO42]

Excellent ,well said

[cbunite]

He probably should have buffed up before standing between those dummies.

[92F150]

SA Fred's service up to this latest event illustrates that he is an asset to the agency. Kelly picked the right agent to contact about her concern. The pic sent to a reporter and Kelly is a tell of his grounded perspective to admirers. It understates his appearance as that of any dummy. This Patreus and Allen event highlights how leaders must manage admirers with obsessive tendencies. I look forward to both agencies having special training and oversight to effectively protect themselves from the consequences of going too far. Until now, the issue of volunteer advocate's access to leaders was probably viewed as a low probability security risk. When Broadwell's scope changed from a thesis paper to a biography, there should've been an oversight position monitoring the relationship to break it up before it led to an affair. Having an intermediary liason for all correspondences between volunteer admirers and an agency leader may be a good idea too. They may be able to tweak existing policy without creating another burdensome layer of paperwork.

[nohater]

well written post but disagree. what you are proposing should happen as a result of the scandal should have been in place long ago. it's just common sense when it comes to national security. assuming anyone in national security has common sense.

[earlysaid]

They were saying it wasn't the least bit sexy. But he is well aware of his fine physics and sending that shot was to show it off.

[MIO42]

And your point is?

[nohater]

physics?

[hobbcal]

No wonder Fred hates a man that can actually get a decent looking woman! Bald and shirtless for certain but muscular and buff? LMAO! The bullet ridden dummies look more human than Fred. Seriously, who wrote this article? A blind gay guy?

[nohater]

there is the other side, the man is not obese.

[hobbcal]

No wonder Fred hates a man that can actually get a decent looking woman! Bald and shirtless for certain but muscular and buff? LMAO! The bullet ridden dummies look more human than Fred. Seriously, who wrote this article? A blind gay guy?

[hobbcal]

No wonder Fred hates a man that can actually get a decent looking woman! Bald and shirtless for certain but muscular and buff? LMAO! The bullet ridden dummies look more human than Fred. Seriously, who wrote this article? A blind gay guy?

[hdc77494]

Note that there were no criminal threats in the emails, nothing to cause escalation at all. The fact that someone knows two four star generals doesn't make them a criminal. This was pushed upstairs simply because the woman complaining was a friend of the agent. How do you make the jump from a harrassment complaint that doesn't hold water to the reading of twenty thousand pages of emails between the CIA director and his girlfriend? And the White House still claims they knew nothing? Bunch of liars timing the man's departure after the election. If they knew about it for six months and he wasn't breaking any laws, exactly why did Obama want him gone, along with the admiral commanding the carrier task force off Libya, the General commanding AFRICOM, AND the new supreme allied commander of NATO, all since Benghazi?

[DWileyOne]

Except YOUR timing is off. In every case, every person involved can be subpoenaed to testify in any Congressional, military, or judicial hearing, regardless of whether or not they still hold the position they were in when Benghazi or this stupid cat fight between Kelley and Broadwell happened. None of these people have immunity ... especially not Kelley with her pseudo-honorary consul claim. Regardless of your political leanings, the Patreus "scandal" is just a sad commentary on how a normally sane man can make some really bad decisions when it comes to good-looking women who make themselves available. Actually, it's pathetic.

[MIO42]

To DWILEYONE

Excellent ! best one yet