Broadwell said to be devastated by Petraeus scandal

David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell

WASHINGTON Paula Broadwell, whose extramarital affair with CIA chief David Petraeus led to his resignation, is telling friends she is devastated by the fallout.

A person close to Broadwell said Sunday she deeply regrets the damage that's been done to her family and everyone else's, and she is trying to repair that and move forward. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

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Paula Broadwell arrives with husband at brother's home

A group of friends and neighbors welcomed Broadwell, her husband, Scott, and their young sons back to their home in Charlotte, N.C., after Broadwell spent more than a week being hounded by media while staying at her brother's home in Washington. The family friend said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from her neighbors.

Broadwell is still being investigated by the FBI over classified documents found on her laptop and in her home, which investigators believe the author gathered while researching her biography of Petraeus in Afghanistan. Investigators say many of the documents are old and may no longer be classified despite their labels, and say Broadwell told them she did not get them from Petraeus.

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Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell

The FBI stumbled onto their relationship after tracking anonymous emails Broadwell allegedly sent to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, warning Kelley to stay away from Petraeus and Afghanistan war commander Gen. John Allen.

Kelley served as sort of an unpaid social liaison for Central Command, hosting parties at her and her husband's home, where senior officers would mingle with Tampa's elite. Officials say Kelley kept in near constant contact with Allen, and Petraeus before him, apparently trading on her friendship with the four-star commanders to advance her social status in the military-conscious community of Tampa.

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CIA Director David Petraeus resigns

The scandal widened when the Pentagon announced it was looking into that copious correspondence between Kelley and Allen, searching for possible evidence of an inappropriate relationship between the two married people. Allen's nomination to lead the U.S. European Command has been put on hold, pending results of the investigation, though officials now concede only a handful of the emails between Kelley and Allen are of flirtatious or questionable nature.

The FBI found no reason to further investigate Petraeus, but the CIA is now investigating whether the former director behaved inappropriately, such as possibly using agency resources to further the affair.

[joltinjoe79]

Earthy girls like Generals! Dad complex !

[AOCGUY]

he aint that old and she aint that young

[bradkt1]

Hot Lips is an idiot!

She's more worried about betraying General Petraeus than she is about betraying her husband and family.

[mari1963]

What if she would have been a spy?

[AOCGUY]

Fascinating that all these powerful and/or famous people are devestated by the bad things they have done. How about not doing bad things in the first place then you won't have to be devastated and we can be spared your false piety.

[levelheadedtoo]

I am particularly concerned about the FBI's new role as the bedroom snoop of the government. These are the unintended consequences of the Bush Patriot Act that grants access to our private lives without a criminal cause. The FBI admits it didn't have a criminal case to go on and the agent involved was emailing lewd photos of himself the Kelly. So this FBI agent had a personal motive to get even with Broadwell and anyone connected to her.

The FBI has become the morality police. We do need to make sure that foreign agents don't get access to our top leaders, however, it was pretty clear all along that there is a case of poor judgement, not a crime, or an international spy ring made up of cat fighting women.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/14/investigate_the_fbi

[AOCGUY]

The FBI was contacted because the received a report from a US Citizen that she was receiving threatening email. Rightly they investigated and found a link to our most senior Intelligence Officer (You don't think that merits further investigation) and in the process of investigating also found documents with classified markings on her personal computer (again that doesn't merit further investigation). While the agent that was intially contacted was a personal aquaintence of Mrs. Kelly he was also the local FBI agent in the Tampa area. So since I happen to be acquainted with the FBI agent in my area I shouldn't be allowed to contact the FBI with a legitimate concern? BTW, the photos the agent sent to Mrs Kelley were hardly lewd.

[FromAGalaxyFarFarAway]

@AOCGUY... "The FBI was contacted because they received a report..." Just wondering why Mrs. Kelly felt she could immediately escalate to the FBI after receiving the alleged threatening email(s). Normally this would be a local police matter and the FBI would/could only become involved at such time as a) it was established that the threatening emails were originating in another state and b) they had been invited to assist by the local authorities. Your assumption that the FBI has a priori authority in situations such as this is a bit suspect.

[nirak2-2009]

She is devestated? Wonder how Petreaus's wife and children feel.
Maybe she should think before she starts an affair with a married man while she she is married

[mari1963]

It takes two to tango and he knew what he was doing too! His wife is pretty homely, you gotta admit that. And Broadwell is pretty hot!

[frh1951]

Yeah right! Like it never occurred to her that a married guy was off limits? Jeez, what a moron.

[hypnotoad72]

And the last thing a civilized, evolved society needs to see is this affair made into a book or movie to capitalize on. You can't have it both ways...

[hypnotoad72]

And she's shocked, because...?

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

Paula Broadwell.... is devastated by the fallout.
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Devastated that she is revealed to the nation as a tramp.....

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

And Petreaus was revealed as what???

I mean, you're not revealing a double standard in yourself there are ya???