NYTimes | Mr. Humphries, who was identified on Wednesday by law enforcement
colleagues, took the initial complaint from Jill Kelley, a Tampa woman
active in local military circles and a personal friend, about anonymous
e-mails that accused her of inappropriately flirtatious behavior toward
Mr. Petraeus.
The subsequent cyberstalking investigation uncovered an extramarital
affair between Mr. Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his biographer, who
agents determined had sent the anonymous e-mails. It also ensnared Gen.
John R. Allen, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, after F.B.I.
agents discovered what a law enforcement official said on Wednesday
were sexually explicit e-mail exchanges between him and Ms. Kelley.
A spokesman for Ms. Kelley provided her version of events in two
conference calls with reporters on Wednesday. Ms. Kelley’s concern when
she took the e-mails to Mr. Humphries was that she feared the sender was
“stalking” Mr. Petraeus and General Allen, said the spokesman, who
asked not to be identified.
“She asks the agent, ‘What do you make of this?’ ” the spokesman said.
“The agent said: ‘This is serious. They seem to know the comings and
goings of a couple of generals.’ ”
General Allen himself had received a similar anonymous e-mail message,
sent by someone identified as “kelleypatrol,” advising him to stay away
from Ms. Kelley. The general forwarded it to Ms. Kelley, and they
discussed a concern that someone was cyberstalking them.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he had asked the
Senate to postpone a confirmation hearing for General Allen’s next
assignment while the department’s inspector general reviewed his e-mail
correspondence with Ms. Kelley, which was discovered by F.B.I. agents
investigating her initial complaint.
Pentagon officials said the review covered more than 10,000 pages of
documents that included “inappropriate” messages. But associates of
General Allen have said that the two exchanged about a dozen e-mails a
week since meeting two years ago and that his messages were affectionate
but platonic.
A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
disputed that assertion on Wednesday, saying some messages were clearly
sexual. Investigators were confident “the nature of the content
warranted passing them on” to the inspector general, the official said.
