Ruminations

A Running Tab on the Drip, Drip, Drip of the Petraeus Affair: The Kelleys' Money Woes

By Josh Voorhees

Posted Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, at 5:22 PM ET

Jill Kelley looks out the window of her home as Gen. David H. Petraeus is seen on the television in the background on November 13, 2012 in Tampa Photo by Tim Boyles/Getty Images.

Thanks to the general nature of the Web and Twitter, the ongoing story of what we're going to call the David Petraeus Scandal (for a lack of a better name) is spilling out in increments, a not-so-slow drip, drip, drip in the form of scoops and scoop-lets delivered in more or less the same breathless tone as all those that came before.

All those pun-filled tweets and headlines can make it mighty hard to keep track of the latest newsy nuggets, be they major (the temporary postponement of a confirmation hearing) or minor (a found ID belonging to one of the partipants). With that in mind, we'll keep a running tab below on the noteworthy developments that can't find a home elsewhere in Slate's coverage of the affair.

But first, don't forget we've got a handy cheat sheet (no pun intended) here listing all the major and minor players in the ongoing saga—from Petraeus himself to the shirtless FBI agent who set the investigation that cost him his job in motion.

Wednesday's updates:

MONEY WOES: The Associated Press:

Hundreds of pages of court documents in several lawsuits detail financial troubles for the Kelleys and Jill Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, who lived with the couple. Chase Bank sued Scott Kelley in 2010 over a $25,880 unpaid credit card bill, and an investment by the Kelleys in a Tampa office building turned into a dispute with the tenant over $28,000-a-month rent. The couple didn't pay the mortgage and entered into foreclosure.

Attorney Barry Cohen represented the Kelleys in the case, but they turned around and sued him over legal fees, claiming he overcharged them by $5,000. The suit was dismissed, but court documents did not say what happened.

Natalie Khawam worked for Cohen's firm. She filed a lawsuit against the firm's chief financial officer, claiming she was sexually harassed after she asked about reimbursement for expenses, according to the court documents. She claimed Alan Goldberg asked her why she needed the money and she said because she was a single mom and needed to pay her divorce lawyer. "You have nice legs, your lawyer won't drop you" she claimed he replied. Cohen, defending Goldberg, disputed all of her accusations, and said Khawam had a history of lying to the court, according to the documents.

FRIENDS NO MORE: ABC News:

Jill Kelley ... has lost the privilege of visiting MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa without an escort. The base is home to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and Kelley, who enjoyed rubbing shoulders with top military brass, had been granted unescorted access to the base under a program initiated by the Air Force unit that runs operations at the base.

A Defense official confirms to ABC News that Kelley participated in a base program known as the "Friends of MacDill" where she was placed on a master list that allowed her to clear security when entering the base.

A person must be nominated to enter the program, and must pass a background check by the wing's security office. The official did not know who nominated Kelley for the program.

OBAMA WEIGHS IN: Politico:

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he was not aware of any breach of classified information due to the situation that led to the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director—but referred questions about the investigation to FBI Director Robert Mueller. “One of the challenges here is that we’re not supposed to meddle in criminal investigations,” Obama said at the White House, during his first press conference since winning a second term.
However, he added, “I have no evidence at this point from what I’ve seen that classified information was disclosed that would have in any way have had an impact on our national security.”

PETRAEUS TO TESTIFY, EVENTUALLY: Politico:

Gen. David Petraeus will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding the attacks in Benghazi, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein told POLITICO Wednesday morning. But the exact schedule has not been set for his testimony. "Mr. Petraeus has indicated his willingness [to testify]. He is eager to come before the committee so we will work out the details,” Feinstein said.

ABOUT THOSE DOCUMENTS: The Washington Post:

Senior law enforcement officials said that a late-night seizure on Monday of boxes of material from the North Carolina home of Paula Broadwell ... marks a renewed focus by investigators on sensitive material found in her possession. "The issue of national security is still on the table," one U.S. law enforcement official said. Both Petraeus and Broadwell have denied to investigators that he was the source of any classified information, officials said.

The surprise move by the FBI follows assertions by U.S. officials that the investigation had turned up no evidence of a security breach — a factor that was cited as a reason the Justice Department did not notify the White House before last week that the CIA director had been ensnared in an e-mail inquiry.

DOWN THE ROAD: The Daily Princetonian:

University staff members voiced concerns about the potential candidacy of former CIA director David Petraeus GS ’87 for University president at the third open forum held by the University’s presidential search committee Tuesday afternoon. ...

The University Board of Trustees is expecting to receive a recommendation from the search committee on the candidate for University president by late March or early April.

Background: the student paper reported back in September that Petraeus "harbors a serious interest in one day serving as University president," according to those who know him.

Tuesday's updates:

EASY TO START, NOT SO EASY TO STOP: The Wall Street Journal:

On Tuesday, people familiar with the case said that at one point in the summer, after the investigation began pointing to larger potential national security issues, Ms. Kelley tried to get the FBI to drop the matter. The people said she made the request because she was worried about the personal information being provided to investigators.

Ms. Kelley, a 37-year-old volunteer who organized social events for military personnel, developed misgivings after friends in her Tampa social circle urged her to drop the matter, saying the probe would only cause bigger problems, the people familiar with the case said.

Ms. Kelley's apparent regret points to one of the more unusual aspects of the case: what began as a seemingly minor case of cyberstalking mushroomed into fears that the Central Intelligence Agency director's personal email account had been hacked, which spawned concerns the CIA director might have passed sensitive information to his mistress.

AN EARLY END TO ROMANCE: Slate's Hanna Rosin via the Washingtonian:

Paula Broadwell and her husband Scott did in fact enjoy their romantic Friday night dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, following a romantic weekend out of an ad for the Virginia tourist association: hikes, bike rides, and a room at the romantic Middleton Inn. ...

Just to get the timeline straight, Slate broke the name of Petraues’ mistress on Friday evening, just around the time when the couple would have been sitting down to dinner. It’s possible that they made a rule to keep their phones back in the room of another inn where they were staying, and had no idea her name had become public. If not, how could they possibly have made it through dinner without someone emailing Broadwell and telling her what was up? ...

The Washingtonian also reports that when they checked into the inn, her husband had a bottle of Champagne and a bouquet of pink roses and white lilies waiting to mark her 40^th birthday. And then they checked out “earlier than expected” on Saturday morning and Scott Broadwell was described as “not talkative.”

CHARACTER WITNESSES: The Associated Press:

Court records indicate that Petraeus and Allen intervened last September in a messy custody dispute on behalf of Jill Kelley's sister. Both four-star generals wrote letters supporting Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, in a custody battle over her son.

Not only did the judge in the case award her ex-husband custody last year of their 3-year-old son, John, but he also told Khawam to pay his legal bills amounting to $350,000. Khawam filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April after racking up more than $3 million in debt, according to federal court records.

CHARITY IN NAME ONLY: The Huffington Post:

Jill Kelley ... founded a questionable charity for cancer patients with her surgeon husband, Scott Kelley. Based out of the couple's mansion, the Doctor Kelley Cancer Foundation claimed on its tax forms that it "shall be operated exclusively to conduct cancer research and to grant wishes to terminally ill adult cancer patients."

From the records, it appears that the charity fell far short of its mission. While the origins of the seed money used to start the charity in 2007 are unclear, financial records reviewed by The Huffington Post reveal that the group spent all of its money not on research, but on parties, entertainment, travel and attorney fees.

A CALL FOR HELP: Fox 13 out of Tampa:

The South Tampa woman connected to the Gen. David Petraeus scandal has called police to her home several times in the last few days, and at least once tried to invoke "diplomatic protection."

Media from around the world have convened on the two-story Bayshore Boulevard home of Scott and Jill Kelley. ... Two 911 calls were made from the Kelleys' home on Sunday. In the first recording, a man whose name was redacted says there is someone at the door who won't leave his property. The second caller, who identifies herself as Jill, says there's someone lurking in their yard.

WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS IN: The New York Times:

President Obama has faith in Gen. John R. Allen, the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, the White House spokesman said on Tuesday, after it was disclosed that the general was under investigation for what the Pentagon called “inappropriate communication” with the woman whose complaint to the F.B.I. set off the scandal involving David H. Petraeus’s extramarital affair.

“The president thinks very highly of General Allen,” the spokesman, Jay Carney, said at a White House news briefing. “He has faith in General Allen,” and believes that he has done “an excellent job” as commander in Afghanistan, Mr. Carney added. General Allen’s recent nomination to become the supreme allied commander in Europe, Mr. Carney said, is delayed at the request of Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta pending the investigation’s outcome.

FOUND DRIVERS LICENSE: U.S. News:

The woman revealed to have been carrying on an affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus lost her driver's license in a Washington, D.C., park recently, sources tell U.S. News.

A Maryland National Capital Park Police spokesman confirmed that a jogger found a North Carolina license in Rock Creek Park belonging to Paula Broadwell. Park Police planned to hold it for 90 days, per policy, and then send it back to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Elsewhere in Slate: Katie Roiphie on why this whole thing isn't even a "sex scandal." It is just sex. And Amanda Marcotte on why it barely merits the word "scandal." And: