The FBI is reporting it found classified documents on Paula Broadwell’s computer, but both she and her lover, former CIA Director David Petraeus deny the documents came from him.
Broadwell, Petraeus’ biographer and mistress, has been under investigation for months, after she reportedly threatened Jill Kelley, a Petraeus family friend, through email. The FBI, while investigating the threat allegations, found a series of emails between Petraeus and Broadwell of an intimate, sexual nature.
But in addition to the emails, the FBI found classified documents on her computer, after she turned it over to investigators after admitting to the affair, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The paper also reported the investigation has been going on for some time, even back as far as this summer. In September, the FBI started working on a legal analysis to determine if charges could be filed, and the investgation continued in the months before the presidential election.
Petraeus admitted to the FBI he’d had an affair but denied he provided his biographer with the classified documents, so the source of the classified documents remains unclear.
Meanwhile, federal lawmakers are angry that they weren’t only told about the affair, but that the FBI didn’t notify leaders about the intelligence breach. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told a Sunday talk show she plans to investigate the FBI’s handling of the matter, and wants to know why it wasn’t shared earlier with Congress earlier.
It was like a lightning bolt This is something that could have had an effect on national security. I think we should have been told.