High-flying Holder: Report shows AG, FBI director used luxury jets for personal travel

foxnews

Shown here is the FBI Gulfstream V jet. (FBI)

By Barnini Chakraborty

Two high-tech luxury jets that the FBI convinced Congress were needed for the fight against global terrorism have instead been used to ferry around Attorney General Eric Holder and his predecessors, as well as FBI Director Robert Mueller, according to a government report released Thursday.

Those officials -- which included Holder and Mueller, as well as former Attorneys General Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales -- racked up nearly 700 "nonmission" trips between 2007 and 2011, at a cost of $11.4 million, according to the Government Accountability Office 

Those officials are required to use government aircraft, and in some cases reimbursed the government for a portion of the expenses. But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said given the cost they should either not use the expensive Gulfstream V jets or cut back on their miles. 

“These luxury jets were supposedly needed for counterterrorism, but it turns out that they were used almost two-thirds of the time for jet-setting executive travel,” he said. “Nobody disputes that the Attorney General and the FBI Director should have access to the secure communications, but, for instance, there’s no reason they can’t take a less expensive mode of transportation, or cut their personal travel." 

A call to the Department of Justice for comment was not immediately returned. 

The cost attributed to attorney general travel was $5.8 million; the FBI director's travel cost nearly as much. Roughly 70 percent of the AG flights were for business, and 28 percent were for personal reasons. 

The findings in the report come amid a highly publicized fight over spending cuts set to take effect Friday. 

The Obama administration has repeatedly painted a dismal picture of what could happen if across-the-board spending cuts are allowed to take place under the process known as sequestration. The $85 billion in cuts are scheduled to go into effect on March 1 unless Congress can reach a compromise, which is unlikely.

“I’m really interested in how the Attorney General can claim that federal law enforcement agents will be cut, knowing that over the last five years the Department has allowed for millions of dollars to be spent on personal travel. It’s ludicrous,” Grassley said.

According to the report, from 2007 through 2011, 61 percent of the flights were aboard one of the two Gulfstream V aircrafts, and 25 percent of the flights were aboard the FBI’s Citation (CE-750). The remaining 14 percent of flights were aboard another FBI aircraft.

FBI officials told investigators that the Gulfstream Vs and the Citation were used because they have “secure communications, larger passenger capacity and the long-distance range that is necessary for their required use travel.”

The report also points out that the government should be reimbursed for any personal travel at the full coach fare between cities. The reimbursement amount, or equivalent commercial fare, usually ends up being less than the cost of operating a government aircraft.

In November 2010, a personal trip taken by the attorney general to New York on the Gulfstream V had an estimated flight cost of $15,894, but the reimbursement at the equivalent commercial fare was $420.80.

The report said that for 88 of the trips, the attorney general reimbursed for a total amount of $47,000. The FBI director reimbursed roughly $4,500 for a total of 10 trips. 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/28/government-report-shows-attorney-general-fbi-used-luxury-jets-for-personal/#ixzz2MDDFFbBl

FBI Stonewalled in Probe of NASA Tech Leak, Sources Say

Foxnews

A four-year FBI investigation into the transfer of classified weapons technology to China and other countries from NASA’s Ames Research Center is being stonewalled by government officials, sources tell FoxNews.com.
Documents obtained by FoxNews.com, which summarize these and other allegations and were given to congressional sources last week by a whistle-blower, described how a “secret grand jury” was to be convened in February 2011 to hear testimony from informants in the case, including a senior NASA engineer. But federal prosecutor Gary Fry was removed from the case, which was then transferred from one office in the Northern District of California to another where, according to the documents, “this case now appears to be stalled.”
“The information is staggering,” the whistle-blower told FoxNews.com.
A Justice Department spokesman on Thursday told FoxNews.com it “does not comment on grand jury proceedings,” as a matter of longstanding policy. Fry, reached for comment late Thursday, also would not confirm or deny the claim.

'When I mentioned the tech that was compromised to the Armed Services Committee, their jaws just dropped.'

- Congressional source

The claims originate with several past and current NASA employees concerned with the systemic leak of highly sensitive information relating to missile defense systems, as well as what they call a troubled investigation into the leak.
The documents claim the FBI has been working with other agencies since 2009 on an investigation into foreign nationals working at Ames. This follows allegations by two Republican lawmakers earlier this month that the U.S. attorney’s office in the Northern California district was ultimately denied by the Justice Department when it tried to proceed with indictments.
Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, denied claims her office was blocked in trying to proceed with the case.
“I am aware of allegations our office sought authority from DOJ in Washington, D.C. to bring charges in a particular matter and that our request was denied,” she said in a written statement. “Those allegations are untrue. No such request was made and no such denial was received.”
Yet two members of Congress, Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said in a statement to FoxNews.com that Haag’s denial “conflicts with information we have received from federal law enforcement sources,” and added “we hope that the DOJ Inspector General will take our request seriously.” The lawmakers had requested, via letter, an IG investigation.
Rob Storch, a spokesman for the DOJ inspector general’s office, confirmed to FoxNews.com the office received the letter from Wolf and Smith. “We’re evaluating (the letter),” he said.
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the Ames Research Center has been a center of high tech innovation for more than 60 years. As the space agency’s mission has changed over the years since it was built, NASA has turned it into a commercial research facility, leasing out space to a number of companies including rocket firm SpaceX and tech giant Google, which leases 42 acres there through a holding company called Planetary Ventures.
The accusations stem from a reported violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which governs the export of defense weaponry. In 2006, Ames adapted specialized rocket engines -- originally developed for the Pentagon missile defense “Kinetic Kill Vehicle” program -- for a moon lander prototype that ultimately became NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). The robotic moon orbiter is set to launch on Aug. 12, 2013.
Information on guidance and terrain-mapping systems from the Tomahawk cruise missile and a radar from the F-35 were also shared, according to one report in Aviation Week.
"When I mentioned the tech that was compromised to the Armed Services Committee, their jaws just dropped," a congressional source told FoxNews.com.
The sources allege that Ames Center Director Simon P. “Pete” Worden and Will Marshall, a British citizen, shared that moon lander project - and the missile defense technology – with individuals from foreign countries including China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
“Will Marshall in particular had demonstrated far too great an interest in locating U.S. spy satellites, giving interviews to Chinese and American newspapers on curtailing U.S. space security,” reads a document that was purportedly given to the FBI. Marshall could not be reached for comment by FoxNews.com.
The document claims foreign nationals, under the direction of Worden, were since 2006 brought in to work on space flight projects, without the proper export control licenses. Further, the document claims they were planning to share technology with the Chinese and other countries through the International Space University.
The document also charges the Department of Homeland Security “intercepted” Marshall at the San Francisco airport, and “confiscated” his NASA-issued computer, suggesting it contained sensitive information.
“Foreign nationals had access to technology and even brought foreign visitors in to see it. Three left the country and talked about the technology,” congressional sources told FoxNews.com. “The case was referred to the U.S. attorney – it’s a clear violation of ITAR.”
A NASA engineer was subpoenaed to testify before a secret grand jury in February 2011 in San Jose, according to the documents. But the attorney assigned to the case – Gary Fry -- was removed at the last minute, before the case was transferred to another office within Haag’s district. Fry still works out of the San Jose office.
NASA headquarters deferred questions to the Department of Justice. The Justice Department headquarters also declined to comment to FoxNews.com.
But Worden told FoxNews.com the accusations are “rubbish.”
“I take very seriously our responsibility to safeguard sensitive information. I say this unambiguously — I have not, would not, and could not impede a law enforcement investigation. To the best of my knowledge I am not the subject of a current investigation,” he said in a statement.
On Feb. 8, Reps. Wolf and Smith sent letters to the Justice Department inspector general and the director of the FBI regarding the allegedly illegal movement of this crucial technology. Wolf chairs the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies subcommittee. Smith heads the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
The letters allege the FBI had uncovered the ITAR violations, and the U.S. attorney was prepared to issue indictments. But it says the case has been stalled for more than a year, agents in the case were reassigned, and the statute of limitations on the violations is already beginning to expire.
“It is our understanding that this illegal technology transfer may have involved classified Defense Department weapons system technology to foreign countries, including China, potentially with the tacit or direct approval of the center’s leadership,” the letters read.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, also wrote to NASA as early as April 2012 asking about allegations that Worden “allowed foreign nationals” to access Ames – along with “NASA secrets and cutting edge technology” in violation of ITAR.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/22/nasa-missile-defense-tech-leaked-to-china-sources-say/#ixzz2LfHZdNkH

The FBI’s Secret File On Marilyn Monroe

By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press 

A classified file released by the FBI shows how the agency tracked Marilyn Monroe's suspected ties to communism in 1956.

The agency documented an anonymous phone call to the New York Daily News that year warning that playwright Arthur Miller was a communist and Monroe had 'drifted into the communist orbit' after her marriage to him earlier that year.

The file is just one piece of the puzzle about what the FBI knew about the actress when she died in August 1962.

The Associated Press waging an ongoing campaign to have more of the FBI documents released by the agency, coinciding with the 50th anniversary Monroe's death.

Being watched: Marilyn Monroe and her husband, playwright Arthur Miller were both suspected of communist activities by the FBI

The redacted document reveals that on July 11, 1956, the agency got a tip that an anonymous male caller phoned the Daily News to report that the actress's company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, was 'filled with communists' and that money from the company was being used to finance communist activities.

The caller said Miller's marriage to Monroe during a Jewish ceremony less than a months earlier was a 'coverup.' 

Miller, the man said, 'was still a member of the CP (communist party) and was their cultural front man.'

The FBI has long made portions of its documents about Monroe public, but most of them are heavily redacted. 

Surveillance: This FBI file documented an anonymous call to the New York Daily News. It's unknown how the agency found out about it

However, the FBI claims it has lost its files on the actress and cannot release them.

Finding out precisely when the records were moved - as the FBI says has happened - required the filing of yet another, still-pending Freedom of Information Act request.

The most recent version of the files is publicly available on the bureau's website, The Vault, which periodically posts FBI records on celebrities, government officials, spies and criminals.

The AP appealed the FBI's continued censorship of its Monroe files, noting the agency has not given 'any legal or factual analysis of the foreseeable harm that might result from the release of the full records.'

Marilyn Monroe is seen here with Jean Pierre Piquet, manager of Continental Hilton Hotel. The FBI has released a new version of files it kept on Monroe that reveal the names of some of her acquaintances who had drawn concern from the FBI

The star's death was ruled likely drug overdose, but questions still remain about the FBI's role in her life

Monroe's star power and fears she might be recruited by the Communist Party during the tenure of longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover led to reports being taken on her activities and relationships, including her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller.

Monroe's file begins in 1955 and mostly focuses on her travels and associations, searching for signs of leftist views and possible ties to communism. The file continues up until the months before her death, and also includes several news stories and references to Norman Mailer's biography of the actress, which focused on questions about whether Monroe was killed by the government.

There have been two major government investigations into Monroe's demise - the original inquiry immediately after her death and another effort by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office in 1982. The second inquiry, released in December 1982, reviewed all files available investigative reports, including files compiled by the FBI on her death. The records, the DA's office noted, were 'heavily censored.'

That mention intrigued the man who performed Monroe's autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. While the DA investigation concluded he conducted a thorough autopsy, Noguchi has conceded that no one will likely ever know all the details of Monroe's death. The FBI files and confidential interviews conducted with the actress' friends that have never been made public might help, he wrote in his 1983 memoir 'Coroner.'

'On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroe's suicide "very probable,"' Noguchi wrote. 'But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are made public and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254054/Marilyn-Monroe-Productions-filled-communists-The-FBI-file-shows-agency-tracked-actress-investigated-communist-ties-1950s.html#ixzz2GPFDMyAS

Will Petraeus Set the Record Straight?

PJMedia/  Richard Fernandez

Breitbart quotes a tweet by CNN correspondent Frances Townsend claiming information by Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr that David Petraeus will testify that he knew the attack on the Benghazi consulate was terrorism “almost immediately.” The “same source” claims he will say Susan Rice’s talking points ascribing the attack to a video came from the White House.

If Petraeus really does testify to this effect, he will inescapably be alleging under oath that the president was a liar. Even if the testimony is restricted strictly to Benghazi and not its aftermath, the crucial question remains: did the president abandon the men on the ground to their fates?

Of course the purpose of this new leak may be to muddy the waters. In Washington, home to hundreds of newspaper correspondents and reporters, nothing is as it seems. The age of Obama resembles nothing so much as an evil fun-house of mirrors.

There may be a behind-the-scenes effort to influence what Petraeus will say. Charles Krauthammer has already suggested that the administration has tried to use the Broadwell incident to silence the former CIA director. But if Petraeus testifies as advertised, it may mean that he has decided that the administration will destroy him even if tries to go along and that his only remaining option is to fight.

DP’s options are rapidly shrinking. CNN reports that the CIA has opened an internal investigation into Petraeus’ conduct. Does anybody still believe this is about an extra-marital affair? Probably the same people who who believed that Benghazi was about a YouTube video.

The announcement of the internal investigation comes on the eve of closed door testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Petraeus is expected to offer his thoughts to the committee members on what the Agency knew and when it knew it in the days after the attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on September 11.

For reasons that the public does not understand, the incident in Benghazi has started a full-blown power struggle that is raging beneath the surface of official Washington.  More >>

Holder defends keeping Petraeus inquiry from White House

WP/  Sari Horwitz, Carol D. Leonnig and Greg Miller

  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at a news conference in New Orleans Nov. 15, 2012/
Jonathan Bachman-Reuter

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Thursday defended the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation that ledDavid H. Petraeus to resign as CIA director, saying that the department was right to keep the inquiry secret from the White House until after last week’s presidential election.

Holder’s first public comments on the controversy came as the CIA opened an internal inquiry of Petraeus’s conduct during his 14-month tenure as director. The move means that there are three active investigations related to a scandal that has scrambled President Obama’s national security team.

The Washington Post’s Greg Miller explains how the discovery of classified documents in Paula Broadwell’s home complicates the FBI’s reasoning for initially keeping their investigation secret.

“What we did was conduct the investigation in the way we normally conduct a criminal investigation,” Holder said in a news conference in New Orleans.
He said the inquiry was handled “in an impartial way. We follow the facts. We do not share outside the Justice Department, outside the FBI, the facts of ongoing investigations.”
Holder’s remarks were aimed at quieting criticism that has grown sharper in recent days as the initial shock waves from Petraeus’s resignation have given way to questions about Justice Department decisions during its probe.
Some of those questions have focused on Fred Humphries, an FBI agent in Tampa whose concerns that the investigation had uncovered possible national security risks led to a chain of events that resulted in a House Republican leader raising the issue with the office of FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. A person close to Humphries said he had no intention of being a whistle-blower, but the agent’s informal comments may have triggered the disclosure of Petraeus’s affair.
Republicans have accused Holder of withholding the results of the investigation until after the election for political motives. At the same time, some Democrats have begun to draw comparisons between the exposure of an adulterous affair by Petraeus and the bureau’s history of digging up dirt on Washington officials during the tenure of founding FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
“We don’t want to return to those days,” said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the House intelligence committee and a former federal prosecutor. “The FBI was trying to find the right line here,” he said, even as it unearthed “what may have been an affair that had nothing to do with national security.”
Lawmakers from both parties have faulted the FBI for not notifying Congress that a criminal probe had turned up compromising material on the CIA director as well as potentially inappropriate communications between a Tampa socialite at the center of the case and Gen. John R. Allen, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan.
Holder fired back Thursday, saying the Justice Department “made the determination as we were going through that there was not a threat to national security.” Because of that conclusion, he said, there was no reason to advise officials outside the department before the investigation was complete.
The FBI notified the executive branch with a call to Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. on the evening of Election Day, Nov. 6. Holder said the call was made then because the bureau had “conducted a critical interview the Friday before. When we got to that point, we thought it appropriate to notify the president.” Read more on WP >>

Petraeus Breaks His Silence To HLN

The Blaze

Former CIA Director David Petraeus told an HLN journalist he never passed classified information to Paula Broadwell and insisted his resignation last week had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Petraeus has been speaking with HLN’s Kyra Phillips since last week. Phillips relayed some of their conversations on the air on Thursday.

“He has insisted to me that he has never passed classified information to Paula Broadwell,” the woman he was having an extramarital affair with, Phillips said. “As long as I have known him, he has never wavered on classified information, ever. And to the best of my knowledge, you know, that has always been sacrosanct. I have also never known him to tell me something that is not true.”

Phillips said Petraeus told her he wants to testify about Benghazi — something he will do behind closed doors on Friday.

“He has said this has nothing to do with Benghazi and he wants to testify. He will testify,” Phillips said. “He has maintained to me all along this was a personal failing, Robin, which, as I said, to me was quite stunning and to many other people. He’s not the type of person that I’ve ever known to fail at anything, knowing [him] as long as I have over the years. And so he has made it very clear that this was about an extramarital affair and not over classified information or Benghazi.”

Silencing General Petraeus

Andrew Napolitano 

takimag.com

The evidence that Gen. David Petraeus, formerly the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the author of the current Army field manual, Princeton Ph.D. and, until last week, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was forced to resign from the CIA to silence him is far stronger than is the version of events that the Obama administration has given us.

The government would have us believe that because the FBI confronted Petraeus with his emails showing a pattern of inappropriate personal private behavior, he voluntarily departed his job as the country's chief spy to avoid embarrassment. The government would also have us believe that the existence of the general's relationship with Paula Broadwell, an unknown military scholar who wrote a book about him last year, was recently and inadvertently discovered by the FBI while it was conducting an investigation into an alleged threat made by Broadwell to another woman. And the government would as well have us believe that the president learned of all this at 5 p.m. on Election Day.

We now know that the existence of a personal relationship between Broadwell and Petraeus had been suspected and whispered about by his senior-level colleagues and by his personal staff in the military, who worried that it might become publicly known, since before the time that he came to run the CIA.

We also know that when he was nominated to run the CIA, that nomination was preceded by a two-month FBI-conducted background check that likely would have revealed the existence of his relationship with Broadwell. The FBI agents conducting that background check surely would have seen his visitor logs while he commanded our troops and would have interviewed his military colleagues and regular visitors and those colleagues who knew him well and worked with him every day, and thus learned about his personal life. That's their job.

And that information would have been reported immediately to President Obama and to the Senate Intelligence Committee, prior to Petraeus' formal nomination and prior to his Senate confirmation hearing.

In the modern era, office-holders with forgiving spouses simply do not resign from powerful jobs because of a temporary, non-criminal, consensual adult sexual liaison, as the history of the FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, and Clinton presidencies attest. So, why is Petraeus different? Someone wants to silence him.

Petraeus told the Senate and House Intelligence Committees on September 14, 2012, that the mob attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, three days earlier, was a spontaneous reaction of Libyans angered over a YouTube clip some believed insulted the prophet Muhammad. He even referred to that assault—which resulted in the murders of four Americans, now all thought to have been CIA agents—as a "flash mob." His scheduled secret testimony this week before the same congressional committees will produce a chastened, diminished Petraeus who will be confronted with a mountain of evidence contradicting his September testimony, perhaps exposing him to charges of perjury or lying to Congress and causing substantial embarrassment to the president.

It's obvious that someone was out to silence Petraeus. Who could believe the government version of all this? The same government that wants us to believe that FBI agents innocently and accidentally discovered the Petraeus/Broadwell affair a few months ago and confronted Petraeus with his emails a few weeks ago is a cauldron of petty jealousies. From the time of its creation in 1947, the CIA has been a bitter rival of the FBI. The two agencies are both equipped with lethal force, they both often operate outside the law, and they are each seriously potent entities. Their rivalry was tempered by federal laws that until 2001 kept the CIA from operating in the U.S. and the FBI from operating outside the U.S.

In one of his many overreactions to the events of 9/11, however, President George W. Bush changed all that with an ill-conceived executive order that unlawfully unleashed the CIA inside the U.S. and the FBI into foreign countries. Rather than facilitating a cooperative spirit in defense of individual freedom and national security, this reignited their rivalry. FBI agents, for example, publicly exposed CIA agents whom they caught torturing detainees at Gitmo, and Bush was forced to restrain the CIA.

Isn't it odd that FBI agents would be reading the emails of the CIA director to his mistress and that the director of the FBI, who briefs the president weekly, did not make the president aware of this? The FBI could only lawfully spy on Petraeus by the use of a search warrant, and it could only get a search warrant if its agents persuaded a federal judge that Petraeus himself—not his mistress—was involved in criminal behavior under federal law.

The agents also could have bypassed the federal courts and written their own search warrant under the Patriot Act, but only if they could satisfy themselves (a curious and unconstitutional standard) that the general was involved in terror-related activity. Both preconditions for a search warrant are irrelevant and would be absurd in this case.

All this—the FBI spying on the CIA—constitutes the government attacking itself. Anyone who did this when neither federal criminal law nor national security has been implicated and kept the president in the dark has violated about four federal statutes and should be fired and indicted. The general may be a cad and a bad husband, but he has the same constitutional rights as the rest of us.

No keen observer could believe the government's Pollyanna version of these events. When did the CIA become a paragon of honesty? When did the FBI become a paragon of transparency? When did the government become a paragon of telling the truth?

The tricky nature of investigating Gen. Allen's emails

Security Clearance/ By Barbara Starr

A U.S. official familiar with the content of the e-mails Gen. John Allen sent to Jill Kelley described them as "embarrassing" and warranting the investigation that has been launched.

"They are embarrassing. If they got out, John Allen would be very embarrassed by them," according to the official, who emphasized that there is no evidence of "physical contact between the two."

The official noted that the e-mails that are under investigation - which have been called "potentially inappropriate" - are from Allen. It is Allen's e-mails that are under investigation, and the official did not know the content of any of Kelley's e-mails to Allen.

"The e-mails are concerning enough to warrant an investigation," the official said.

A second U.S. official, who has had the e-mails described to him, characterized the content as "sexy," but emphasized he could not say whether they "crossed the line."

They "are not the type of e-mails you would want your wife to read," the second official explained.

But a senior official close to Allen told CNN's Nick Paton Walsh Tuesday that there was nothing pointing or referring to sex or an affair or anything of a romantic nature. Allen may have said, informally, "thanks sweetheart" in an e-mail, the official close to Allen insisted.

"Anyone who knows him knows his style - he has a habit of replying to every single e-mail (he is sent). Kelley would e-mail his business and personal accounts," that official said.

It will be up to the Defense Department’s inspector general to decide specifically if the content of the e-mails is so inappropriate that they would be considered conduct unbecoming an officer, according to a third source, a senior U.S. official. This official pointed out this may be a very difficult matter to decide because everyone has a personal definition of what is "affectionate, admiration, all the way to what some might define as sexting."

Will Petraeus drop Benghazi bombshell?

WND/ Joe Kovacs

independentsentinel.com

PALM BEACH, Fla. – With some speculating that former CIA Director David Petraeus may be under a blackmail threat from the Obama administration, radio giant Rush Limbaugh is not expecting the general to contradict his testimony about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi when he testifies before Congress this week.

Petraeus resigned his position at the CIA three days after Obama was re-elected, citing an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

“It’s a reasonable thing to think he might have been blackmailed over this,” Limbaugh said Wednesday afternoon. “And it’s reasonable to think he might have wanted to get out from under the blackmail by resigning, and so now everybody’s waiting with baited breath for his testimony.”

On Sept. 13, Petraeus testified to Congress about the 9/11 attack in Benghazi, going along with original claims by President Obama and his aides that the violence erupted in reaction to an anti-Muslim video. The onslaught killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

Since then, administration officials have said it was a terrorist attack designed specifically for the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York and Washington, D.C.

“If Petraeus goes in there and says anything different than what he said on September 13th, do you know the world of hurt that he’s in?” said Limbaugh.

“He’s going to the get the question, ‘Were you lying then or were you lying now?’ … ‘Are we to believe you now, or are we to believe you then?’”

Petraeus is expected to testify behind closed doors for members of Congress, possibly Thursday and/or Friday, but Limbaugh expects nothing new to be said.

He explained: “If you have some hope or prayer that there’s gonna be some huge treasure trove of ‘Gotcha Obama’ from Petraeus’ testimony, it isn’t going to happen. A, he’s not gonna commit perjury, he’s not gonna say something different than he said last time; and B, whatever they’ve got on him, they’ve got on him.

“They were able to kick him out of office, they were able to blackmail him, do whatever with this affair business. They kept it. They knew what was going on. They held it in check until they needed it. But the idea that somehow Obama’s going to be made to take the hit on this Benghazi thing, it isn’t gonna happen. The Democrats get away with it. That’s the lesson. No dispute will be finished and resolved until the Democrats win it.”

Limbaugh concluded: “There is not gonna be one kernel of truth of what happened at Benghazi come out of any of this. It ain’t going to happen. I mean within two weeks of Obama being re-elected, you think they’re going to open the doors and the floodgates for people to go in and get to Obama? It isn’t gonna happen. … You have to understand what’s going on here, folks. There is a circle-the wagon operation around Barack Obama that nobody’s gonna penetrate. That is abundantly clear.”

Infidelity, intrigue and politics: a timeline of the David Petraeus case

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

A June 23, 2011, file photo shows Paula Broadwell, second from left, watching as Gen. David Petraeus and his wife, Holly Petraeus arrive for a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Petraeus' nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

By Mike Brunker
NBC News

What began with David Petraeus’ surprise resignation as CIA director on Friday resulting from an extramarital affair has now spiraled into a complicated story of infidelity, intrigue and politics.

Petraeus’ admission of an extramarital affair quickly led to his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and an examination of her relationship with the decorated war hero. The length of the FBI’s investigation of “menacing” emails sent to Petraeus’ family friend Jill Kelley, and the timing of the announcement of his departure from the Obama administration fueled conspiracy theories. Then Gen. John Allen, Petraeus’ successor as military commander in Afghanistan, was embroiled in the scandal, accused by U.S. officials of sending “inappropriate” emails to Kelley.

To help you keep the facts straight, NBC News has compiled this timeline, based on reporting by NBC News and other published accounts:

Spring 2006 -- Paula Broadwell meets Gen. David Petraeus, when she introduces herself after he gave a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School, where Broadwell was working on a master's degree, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

October 2008 -- Petraeus takes over as head of U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base. While serving there, he reportedly meets Jill Kelley and her husband, Dr. Scott Kelley. She is described in various accounts as a volunteer “social liaison” between the community and the base.

2008 -- Broadwell begins her doctoral dissertation, "a case study of General Petraeus’ leadership," according to Rolling Stone magazine.  

June 2009 -- Broadwell and her husband, Scott, purchase a home in Charlotte, N.C., the Charlotte Observer reports. 

June 2010 -- Petraeus is named as replacement for Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan after the latter makes impolitic remarks to a Rolling Stone reporter. Broadwell decides to turn her dissertation into a book.  

July 2010-July 2011 – According to an online biography of Broadwell that was taken down after Petraeus’ resignation, she made multiple trips to Afghanistan during this period, where she “embedded with the general, his headquarters staff and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting across Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they are brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war.”  

Aug. 31, 2011 -- Petraeus retires from the U.S. Army, departs Afghanistan.

Sept. 6, 2011 -- Petraeus takes over as director of the CIA.

Steven Boylan, a former spokesman for Gen. David Petraeus, discusses how the affair with biographer Paula Broadwell started, saying the general is "embarrassed and keenly aware of the hurt and pain he's caused."

Early November 2011 – According to former Petraeus spokesman Steve Boylan, who had spoken to his former boss after his resignation, Petraeus' affair with  Broadwell began around this time,  approximately two months after he took the CIA job.

January 2012 – “All In, The Education of General David Petraeus,” by Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb is published by Penguin Press.

May 2012 – “Menacing” emails – five to 10 of them, according to the Wall Street Journal -- began arriving in Jill Kelley's inbox, NBC’s Michael Isikoff and Pete Williams report. 

Emails on 'comings and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

T.Ortega Gaines / Charlotte Observer via Reuters

Paula Broadwell is pictured before embarking on a national book tour to promote "All In," her biography of Gen. David Petraeus.

June 2012 – The FBI investigation begins. A source close to Kelley tells Isikoff that she took the emails, which she viewed as harassing or menacing, to the FBI. The source said the anonymous emails didn’t mention Petraeus by name, but subsequent emails – sent from multiple alias accounts -- contained references to the "comings and goings" of high-level military officials -- including events that were not on any public schedule. This raised the question as to whether somebody had access to sensitive -- and classified -- information about the CIA director.

July 2012 – Approximate end of the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus, according to former Petraeus spokesman Steve Boylan, who  tells NBC’s Kristen Welker in early November that it ended “about four months ago.”
Late  summer -- Attorney General Eric Holder is told that agents have discovered an email link between Petraeus and Broadwell, which included exchange of “explicit details of a sexual nature,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
September – FBI agents interview Paula Broadwell for first time, NBC’s Pete Williams reports.

Oct. 27  -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speaks to an FBI agent who had worked on the Petraeus investigation, according to Cantor spokesman Doug Heye. The agent-- who had originally contacted Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington -- raised concerns that "sensitive information" relating to Petraeus may have been "compromised," Heye said. The timing of the tip to Reichert is not clear.  

Week of Oct. 29 – FBI agents interview Petraeus and Broadwell (for a second time), according to NBC’s Michael Isikoff.

Approximately Oct. 30-31 – Somewhere around this time frame, Petraeus traveled to Tripoli to conduct his own personal inquiry into Benghazi, according to author Bob Woodward, appearing on "Meet the Press" on Nov. 11. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell confirmed that Petraeus had recently traveled to Libya.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell and the Washington Post's Bob Woodward visit Meet the Press to examine the fallout from CIA chief David Petraeus' extramarital affair.

Oct. 31 – After conferring with his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, and Richard Cullen, a former attorney general of Virginia, Cantor had Stombres call the FBI chief of staff to relay the information he had received from the FBI agent, NBC News has reported.

Nov. 1 -- Cantor aide Steve Stombres is told by the FBI that it cannot confirm or deny an investigation, but the bureau official assured the leader's office it was acting to protect national security.

Nov. 2 – The FBI concludes its investigation, according to NBC News’ Michael Isikoff, citing senior U.S. law enforcement official; the  last FBI interviews with both Broadwell and Petraeus also took place this day, NBC’s  Pete Williams reports, citing federal officials.

Nov. 6 – Justice Department informs Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Nov. 7 – Clapper informs the White House.

Nov. 8 –  Petraeus calls White House Deputy Chief of Staff Thomas Donilon and asks to see the president, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports. The White House tells Obama of the FBI investigation of Petraeus and his admission of an extramarital affair.

Nov. 9 – Obama accepts Petraeus’ resignation; Senate and House leaders first learn of it from media calls. They then speak to Petraeus, but don’t hear directly from the president, Mitchell reported.

Nov. 11 – Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, issue statement: "We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children."

Afghanistan military commander Gen. John Allen investigated for 'inappropriate' emails

FBI agents carry boxes and a computer from the home of Paula Broadwell in Charlotte, N.C./ Chuck Burton-AP

Nov. 12 – In a surprise statement during a trip to Australia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announces that U.S. General John Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as military commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations he exchanged “inappropriate” emails with Kelley, the woman who triggered the investigation of Petraeus. Meanwhile, FBI agents carry out a four-hour “consensual search” of Broadwell’s home in Charlotte, N.C., leaving with eight to 10 cardboard boxes.

Defense official fires back, denies Afghanistan commander exchanged 'inappropriate' emails

By NBC News staff/

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Updated 4 p.m. ET: Allegedly “inappropriate” emails between U.S. Gen. John Allen and the woman who sparked the investigation into CIA Director David Petraeus do not signify the two had an affair, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday.

“There was no affair,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  The emails in question could be misconstrued, the official said, predicting that the investigation will prove Allen’s innocence.

Allen, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations that he exchanged “inappropriate” emails with Jill Kelley, a senior defense official told reporters earlier Tuesday.

A difference of opinion appeared to be brewing at the Pentagon about how to characterize the emails, with another official calling them flirtatious.

Kelley, a Tampa, Fla., woman who has acted as a volunteer “social liaison” with military officials at MacDill Air Force Base,  inadvertently launched the investigation that led to Petraeus’ resignation by complaining to the FBI about anonymous emails she received.  FBI agents traced the allegedly threatening emails to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer. 

Emails on 'coming and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

During the investigation, agents discovered emails between Petraeus and Broadwell that were indicative of an extramarital affair between them, according to government and law enforcement officials.

Petraeus, who was appointed 14 months ago to head the Central Intelligence Agency, announced his resignation on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

Word of the investigation into Gen. Allen’s involvement came early Tuesday, when U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a statement during a flight to Australia for a meeting with defense officials there, saying that  the FBI had referred “a matter involving" Allen to the Department of Defense's Inspector General.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Glenn on Petraeus scandal: "They used him. Manipulated him. Now they're exposing him"

On TheBlaze Monday night, Glenn took a hard look at the weekend’s biggest news: the resignation of CIA Director General David Petraeus. While Petraeus has cited an extramarital affair as the reason for his resignation, Glenn found the timing almost unbelievable. The news broke only three days after the election and one week before Petraeus was set to testify before Congress.

Two weeks ago, Glenn went on Pat & Stu and predicted it would be General Petraeus taking the blame for Libyan incident.

On his show, Glenn took a hard look at the circumstances surrounding Petraeus’s scandal. A few years ago, Petraeus was one of the most respected figures in America and considered by many as a future Republican superstar and potential presidential candidate. Because of his status, he could easily have been a threat to the Democrats and progressives. But in recent years and months, he’s been isolated and even put in a position to fail.

“Why would you send Petraeus to the CIA and send your CIA Director to the Pentagon?” Glenn asked. Glenn said Petraeus would have been much better at the Pentagon and Leon Panetta was not a sensible choice for the position.

He further noted that reports have emerged that members of the Obama administration knew about the affair while he was being vetted for the CIA Director job, although the White House claims they did not know about the affair. Glenn found this hard to believe, and said that if they did not know everyone involved with the vetting needed to be fired.

“This is Benghazi all over again. Gross incompetence or massive cover-up.”

The scandal will only damage Petraeus’s credibility, and Glenn believes if he does testify on Benghazi it may be too late because of the loss of his reputation.

He further explained that if the White House knew about the affair, they could knowingly put him in a position where he would be forced to take the fall for a scandal like Libya.

David Petraeus Scandal Spreads to General John Allen

MidweekPolitics --The CIA Director David Petraeus scandal grows, now involving General John Allen, under investigation for "inappropriate communications" with a woman said to have received threatening emails from Petraeus' mistress, Paula Broadwell.

Conspiracy Operation Betrayus: From Benghazi to Brennan

corbettreport

The shockwaves of the Petraeus affair are still being felt in Washington. Predictably, the media focus is on the prurient nation of the scandal, but this is no ordinary sex scandal. Join us tonight on the program as we look at some of the implications of the affair from "access" journalism to blackmail to Benghazi and CIA secret prisons and the question of who will step in to fill his shoes.

FBI agents search Broadwell's home

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Emails on ’coming and goings’ of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

By Michael Isikoff and Bob Sullivan
NBC News

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

New in this version: FBI search Paula Broadwell's home Monday night; officials say the FBI agent who worked with Jill Kelley, the Tampa, Fla. woman who received anonymous emails from Broadwell, was dismissed from case because he became obsessed with Kelley.

Updated at 11:36 p.m. ET: “Menacing” anonymous emails that launched the FBI investigation which ultimately brought down CIA Director David Petraeus contained references to the “comings and goings” of high-level U.S. military officials, raising concerns that someone had improperly gained access to sensitive and classified information, a source close to the recipient tells NBC News.

The first email sent anonymously to Jill Kelley, the Tampa, Fla., woman who reported the threatening emails to the FBI, in May referred to Kelley socializing with other generals in the Tampa area and suggested it was inappropriate and should stop, according to the source close to Kelley, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity.

After Kelley alerted the FBI, agents began pursuing it as a possible case of cyber harassment or stalking. "The thought was she was being followed," the source said.

The anonymous emails continued -- sent from multiple alias accounts -- and some later ones in the sequence contained references to Petraeus, though not by name, the source said.

What most alarmed Kelley and the FBI, the source said, were references to "the comings and goings" of high-level generals from the U.S. Central Command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and the U.S. Southern Command, as well as Petraeus -- including events that were not on any public schedule. This raised the question as to whether somebody had access to sensitive -- and classified -- information.

Moreover, the sender of the emails had "covered her tracks pretty well," the source said.

 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

More >>

Behind the email trail that brought down General Petraeus

Bill Clinton who served as the 42nd President of the United States was not forced out by one of the biggest sex scandals, then how can be forced to resign as CIA director General Petraeus? There is only one rational explanation: Next week General Petraeus would have to testify in U.S. Congress about an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

----------------------------------

The Verge/  Adi Robertson

On November 9th, David Petraeus stepped down as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, after an FBI investigation revealed an affair with biographer Paula Broadwell. His departure was sudden, and while an official resigning over infidelity didn’t break any new ground, the investigation was far more unusual. Initial reports said that the FBI had believed someone else to be accessing Petraeus’ personal Gmail account and began monitoring it, uncovering the affair in the process. Some questions have been resolved as more details emerged, but the surrounding story remains murky, touching on security issues, petty rivalries, and the risks of communicating through "anonymous" channels that are ultimately anything but.

Why was the FBI monitoring Petraeus' email? Well, it may not have been

One of the biggest initial questions was why the FBI had been checking Petraeus’ email at all. It’s now believed he wasn’t the original target, and it’s not even clear that he was being monitored. The bureau was actually investigating anonymous threats to Jill Kelley, a Tampa woman who helped organize military social events at the base where US Central Command is located. Petraeus ran Central Command from 2008 to 2010, and Kelley said in a statement that she had known him and his family for over five years.

The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal report that Kelley contacted the FBI about "five to ten" anonymous emails that started in May. While their exact contents is still unknown, some reportedly accused Kelley of having or contemplating an affair, and they were apparently enough to launch an investigation. According to The New York Times, it didn’t hurt that Kelley was also friends with an FBI agent, who was able to kickstart the process.

The threats, the FBI soon deduced, were from Petraeus biographer Broadwell

The emails, the FBI soon deduced, were from Broadwell. While she had created a throwaway address, the bureau was able to connect her by matching email metadata (likely IP addresses) to hotels and other locations that Broadwell had stayed. Once the bureau suspected she was to blame, The Wall Street Journal reports, it obtained a warrant to monitor her email, starting with an account she shared with her husband — and soon after, it found a separate Gmail account with sexually explicit messages between her and someone who appeared to be Petraeus.

The FBI apparently believed someone had hacked Petraeus’ personal account or was posing as him

At first, the FBI apparently believed someone else had hacked Petraeus’ personal account or was posing as him to send the emails, a suspicion that was hinted at in the first reports. It’s unknown whether this led them to monitor his email too, or whether they looked for other ways to check the messages’ veracity. Either way, when investigators determined that they had found an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell, it raised other fears. Besides creating a scandal, an affair can leave officials open to blackmail, something that’s especially pertinent when discussing the director of the CIA. In either late September or mid-October, depending on the source, the FBI quietly called Broadwell in for an interview.

When Broadwell was brought in, she confessed the relationship and turned over her computer, adding another layer of intrigue: it contained classified documents that the FBI suspected came from Petraeus. A probe that started with some harassing emails had, it seemed, stumbled onto a serious security breach. Though the exact timeline isn’t known, the bureau seems to have kept quiet after finding the documents, continuing its investigation and asking for a meeting with Petraeus. But Petraeus — who admitted to the affair — denied giving Broadwell the documents, and in early November, Broadwell said they had come from elsewhere.

"Speaking as a friend, colleague and fellow general officer, Gen. Clapper urged Gen. Petraeus to step down."

At this point, the bureau seems to have decided that Petraeus and Broadwell’s affair, which had ended in early summer, posed no security risk. The probe’s conclusions were reported to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on November 6th — Election Day. By then, however, the news had already leaked. House majority leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) says that a "whistleblower" contacted him in late October through Representative Dave Reichart (R-WA), "concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised." According to The New York Times, it was the same agent who had started the investigation, frustrated by what he saw as stalling progress in the case.

It’s not clear what difference — if any — the leak made on Petraeus’ decision to resign. But a spokesman for General James Clapper says Clapper had asked him to do so on the 6th: "Speaking as a friend, colleague and fellow general officer, Gen. Clapper urged Gen. Petraeus to step down." Afterwards, Clapper notified White House officials, who told Obama on Thursday morning. Petraeus offered his resignation later that day, and Obama accepted it on Friday. Petraeus’ statement to friends and colleagues would be widely reported soon after.

A long-standing departmental rivalry? Technological incompetence? A conspiracy?

Some details may always be missing from the story, but what’s been perhaps most confusing is trying to figure out just what kind of story it is. Is Petraeus’ resignation the result of a long-standing rivalry between the FBI and CIA? Another case of an official being undone by technological incompetence? Was it announced late to give Obama a better shot at the election, or rushed to stop Petraeus from testifying at a hearing regarding the Libya consulate attacks? All these stories have been circulated, and they’re all — as far as we know — wrong.

The FBI / CIA rivalry, former Justice Department inspector general Glenn Fine told The New York Times, "might have been true 20 years ago. But it is hard to believe that is going on today." The connection between Benghazi or the election is also tenuous. An October speech in which Broadwell claimed that the CIA had captured Libyan militia members before the attack has been reported as evidence of a leak from Petraeus, but the anecdote could easily be a garbled version of an earlier Fox News report. It would also have been surprising if this had not come up in the FBI’s report; in fact, the speech was given during the investigation, and the CIA has called the claim "baseless." The election and hearings were almost certainly on the minds of Petraeus and others, but there’s no reason to believe the timing wasn’t coincidental.

A compromised email account bringing down the CIA director would be poetic, but it's not what happened

The idea of a compromised email account bringing down the director of the CIA would certainly be poetic, but reports suggest that if anyone failed to grasp the nature of the internet, it was Broadwell. Without her alleged attempts to threaten Kelley, her Gmail account likely would never have been discovered. Enhanced security wouldn’t have helped Petraeus either, if the affair came out through Broadwell’s email. And it’s possible that the entire situation would have gone unnoticed had Kelley not been friends with a member of the FBI — email harassment, after all, is fairly common.

Petraeus could have encrypted his messages or maintained a false name (he reportedly created the Gmail account under a pseudonym), but the truth is that when everything is connected, it’s difficult to be really unknown. The FBI stumbled across evidence of the affair while tracking Broadwell over at least three email accounts, only one of which had an incriminating connection to Petraeus. Last month, ordinary citizens on Reddit grappled with the implications of matching a real face to an online identity. Now, some of the most secretive parts of the US government are doing the same.

Panetta makes first comments on Petraeus' affair

Security Clearance

The network pool traveling to Australia with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta reports that Panetta commented for the first time about the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus. The comments were given during a mid-flight press conference:

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LEON PANETTA:  “First, obviously, it was a very sad situation to have a distinguished career like that end in this manner. And my heart obviously goes out to him and his family, but I think he took the right step and I think its important when you’re director of the CIA with all the challenges that face you in that position, that personal integrity comes first and foremost.”

“With regards to the future, you know, having served there the first 2 years of this administration, I think its really important to continue to have the CIA stay on track doing the job that is absolutely essential to our national security. They have very important mission focused on intelligence and intelligence operations and I think it’s very important to get someone strong and capable and dedicated to be able to continue that effort. This is a critical time to make sure that with all the threats that we’re dealing with in the world, that we maintain a strong intelligence operation.”

REPORTER QUESTION:  Any indications the Petraeus affair started while he was on active duty? Could he be prosecuted? Would that be your call? (NOTE:  CNN has learned that the affair started after Petraeus was already serving as CIA director)

PANETTA:  “You know, I don’t know the answer to that. I guess, I’m reading the papers like you are to determine just what the committees finds out, what the ultimate investigation determines on that issue. We obviously are going to watch this closely to determine just exactly when that took place. But I think right now my view is lets see what the investigation turns up and what the congress, these committees are able to determine just exactly what took place.”

REPORTER QUESTION:  As a former member of congress – do you think Capitol Hill should have been briefed sooner?

PANETTA:  “That’s another issue I think we ought to look at, because as a former director of the CIA and having working very closely with the intelligence committees, you know I believe there is a responsibility to make sure that the intelligence committees are informed of issues that could affect, you know the security of those intelligence operations.”

Assessing security implications of Petraeus' infidelity

Security Clearance 

With reporting from Suzanne Kelly and Pam Benson/ By CNN's Adam Levine

While affairs may be commonplace in Washington, when they involve the director of the CIA, things can take on a different tone.

Paula Broadwell and David Petraeus/
dailymail.co.uk

A U.S. official has said there was no breach of national security as a result of David Petraeus' affair, but that hasn't stopped discussion that Paula Broadwell could have gained access to classified information as a result of what she has routinely described as "unprecedented access" to Petraeus.

That discussion seemed to gain momentum Monday thanks to comments Broadwell made in a speech last month at the University of Denver.

"I don't know if a lot of you have heard this, but the CIA annex had actually taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to get these prisoners back," Broadwell said.

A senior intelligence official told CNN on Monday, "These detention claims are categorically not true. Nobody was ever held at the annex before, during, or after the attacks."

Broadwell's source for that previously unpublished bit of information remains unclear, and there's no evidence so far that it came from Petraeus. Administration officials have said the Benghazi assault was a terrorist attack.

The New York Times also reported Sunday that investigators found classified documents on Broadwell's laptop computer. The newspaper cited investigators as saying Petraeus denied he had given them to her.

Retired Gen. James "Spider" Marks, for whom Broadwell once worked and who knows Petraeus, said he doubts security protocols were breached despite what seems an unlikely indiscretion on the part of Petraeus.

"There's almost zero percent chance that national security was compromised or at risk," he said Monday.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said an extramarital affair by a CIA officer is not automatically considered a security violation.

"It depends on the circumstances," the official said.

The official also said Broadwell did not have a security clearance from the CIA.

Another official said Broadwell, who is a reserve Army officer, did have some kind of security clearance and that there are no issues with Broadwell having unauthorized access to classified information.

Petraeus' resignation also presents challenges to the congressional inquiry into the Benghazi attack.

CNN has confirmed that Petraeus recently traveled to Libya to meet the CIA station chief to discuss the attack. He was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee this week on the assault and the U.S. government response to it.

That will now not happen, but it is possible that he could be summoned by Congress to testify later.

Some Republicans have criticized the administration's response to the Benghazi attack and have speculated that Petraeus' departure was linked to the congressional inquiry.

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said elements of the story "don't add up." He called Petraeus "an absolutely essential witness, maybe more than anybody else."

However, a senior U.S. official said Petraeus' departure wasn't connected to the Benghazi hearing.

"Director Petraeus' frank and forthright letter of resignation stands on its own," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. "Any suggestion that his departure has anything to do with criticism about Benghazi is completely baseless."