Boing Boing » petraeus

Petraeus: if you think the FBI has broad email snooping powers, get a load of their phone-spying

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:08:54 +0000

The Petraeus/Broadwell email dragnet, which hasn't yielded evidence of any crime, has brought our attention to the FBI's sweeping powers to surveil email. But as ProPublica's Peter Maas writes, "It's not just email."

In July, Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, cajoled major cellphone carriers into disclosing the number of requests for data that they receive from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies: In 2011, there were more than 1.3 million requests. As ProPublica reported at the time, "Police obtain court orders for basic subscriber information so frequently that some mobile phone companies have established websites — here's one — with forms that police can fill out in minutes. The Obama Administration's Department of Justice has said mobile phone users have 'no reasonable expectation of privacy.'"
There's a particularly cruel irony in all of this: If you contact your cell-phone carrier or Internet service provider or a data broker and ask to be provided with the information on you that they provide to the government and other companies, most of them will refuse or make you jump through Defcon levels of hops, skips, and clicks. Uncle Sam or Experian can easily access data that shows where you have been, whom you have called, what you have written, and what you have bought — but you do not have the same privileges.

Read more: Was Petraeus Borked? (ProPublica)

FBI's Petraeus/Broadwell email dragnet reveals agency's sweeping surveillance power

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:18:56 +0000

The FBI's dumpster-dive into Paula Broadwell's email archive has not yet revealed evidence of any crime, but it has revealed to America the extent to which our government is capable of collecting and surveilling our electronic communications. Greg Miller and Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post :

Many details surrounding the case remain unclear. The FBI declined to respond to a list of questions submitted by The Washington Post on its handling of personal information in the course of the Petraeus investigation. The bureau also declined to discuss even the broad guidelines for safeguarding the privacy of ordinary citizens whose e-mails might surface in similarly inadvertent fashion.

Lesson from Petraeus CyberClusterFuck: Email isn't safe.

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:01:06 +0000

Geoffrey Fowler and Evan Perez in the Wall Street Journal write about one practical (and, yes, obvious) takeaway from the Petraeus scandal: "Privacy protections for even the most sophisticated users of consumer-email services actually protect very little." Or, as Kurt Opsahl from the EFF puts it in the article, "If the director of central intelligence isn't able to successfully keep his emails private, what chance do I have?"

Mr. Shirtless

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:58:24 +0000

First published by the Seattle Times. You're welcome. David Heath at CPI met him some years back, and has a blog post about him here.

Petraeus CyberClusterFuck: Broadwell used world's dumbest email troll security protocols

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:51:08 +0000

From a Washington Post article with more details on the Paula Broadwell cyberstalking: "A person close to Kelley said that investigators have found Broadwell had at least four e-mail accounts under aliases, including 'KelleyPatrol,' 'Tampa,' and the name of another U.S. city. Broadwell avoided using her home computer, sending the messages from cybercafes and other public locations, according to the person close to Kelley and U.S. law enforcement officials."

How to follow the Petraeus CyberClusterFuck: a flowchart

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:21:21 +0000

Hilary Sargent, investigator and chart-maker, is trying to make sense of the Petraeus scandal. So are we. So it was with great delight that we encountered her explanatory flowchart. LARGE: Download PDF, or JPG. (Headline HT: @joneilnyt)

Petraeus biographer-lover Broadwell had "substantial classified data" on computer

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:41:33 +0000

Reuters reports that a computer used by Paula Broadwell, whose affair with CIA chief David Petraeus led to his resignation, "contained substantial classified information that should have been stored under more secure conditions," according to law enforcement and national security sources. "The contents of the classified material and how Broadwell acquired it remain under investigation, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment publicly. But the quantity of classified material found on the computer was significant enough to warrant a continuing investigation." Read more: Reuters.

Shirtless FBI agent in Petraeus scandal revealed

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:20:21 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Frederick Humphries. I am glad I haven't encountered the actual shirtless sexted photos, and hope to avoid such an occurrence. (NYT)

All Up In My Snatch

Rob Beschizza — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:27:02 +0000

John Aravosis quotes a very apologetic spokesperson from ABC Denver, where a staffer's search for a picture of Paula Broadwell's All In ended in failure: "When the 7NEWS reporter went on the Internet to get an image of the book cover, the reporter mistakenly grabbed a Photoshopped image that said, 'All Up In My Snatch.'" [America Blog]

EXCLUSIVE: David Petraeus Affair Photos

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:57:21 +0000

This is a tumblog of greatness. "Everything you need to know about the CIA Director David Petraeus sex scandal. All photos and headlines are real." (HT: @itsmikerock)

Petraeus scandal: Jill Kelley ran a bogus cancer charity

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:44:37 +0000

Tampa military socialite and Petraeus scandal figure Jill Kelley ran the "Doctor Kelley Cancer Foundation," which 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." Huffington Post:

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.

More at HuffPo.

Mrs. Kelley also made 911 calls to Tampa police this week about trespassing reporters, and claims her property is considered diplomatic soil. "I'm the honorary consul general so they should not be on my property," Kelley said. "I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well."

Consul general of what? CrazyVaginaStan?

(Thanks, Antinous)

Dr. Strangelove: Gen. Buck Turgidson reacts to Petraeus scandal

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:03:44 +0000

(Thanks, Bryan William Jones)

Was someone at CENTCOM fluffing for Jill Kelley on Wikipedia?

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:55:19 +0000

Gen. John Allen, L, who is being investigated for "inappropriate communications" with unpaid military socialite Jill Kelley, R. (ABC NEWS)

It's bad enough to learn that Marine General John Allen and CIA chief David Petraeus intervened in a custody battle involving CENTCOM socialite Jill Kelley's sister, and shocking to learn that Allen may have sent as many as "30,000 pages" of email to Kelley (this is how the FBI measures email, guys, in printed pages). But what, pray tell, the fuck, is this?

Boing Boing pal Andrea James, who is a Wikipedia editor, saw an odd edit when writing the Jill Kelley bio: On 9 February 2012, a US Central Command IP added "Jill Kelley, amateur ambassador and chess player" to Arcadia University's Wikipedia page.

Your theories? I mean, who was that, John fucking Allen? I'm so baffled by this thing, I don't know that I have it in me to even try speculating anymore.

Petraeus scandal: This is the national-security establishment turning the surveillance apparatus on itself

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:47:44 +0000

From Patrick Radden Keefe, in the New Yorker: "The serialized revelations that have unfolded since Friday—when Petraeus, who left the military as a four-star general, resigned from the C.I.A. because of an affair—are, to say the least, honeyed with irony. In the decade following September 11, 2001, the national-security establishment in this country devised a surveillance apparatus of genuinely diabolical creativity—a cross-hatch of legal and technical innovations that (in theory, at any rate) could furnish law enforcement and intelligence with a high-definition early-warning system on potential terror events. What it’s delivered, instead, is the tawdry, dismaying, and wildly entertaining spectacle that ensues when the national-security establishment inadvertently turns that surveillance apparatus on itself."

As the World Burns: Petraeus scandal cheat-sheet and infographic

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:45:01 +0000

Mother Jones has a very good summary/explainer/de-WTFer up today. I've given up on trying to keep up with the story right now, it's too weird and too sprawling and there are too many sets of penises and vaginas involved.

Via Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone. The chart is by Hilary Sargent (@lilsarg). ~~I don't know who created it, but will add credit when I figure that out.~~

Petraeus let down guard, pants; Broadwell revealed CIA ops as self-appointed mouthpiece

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:26:19 +0000

At Wired Danger Room, Noah Shachtman and Spencer Ackerman have an update this morning on the Petraeus/Broadwell mess. The focus: what the hell was Broadwell doing, apparently leaking CIA operational secrets at a public appearance she gave at an October 26 alumni symposium at the University of Denver?

The mistress of former CIA Director David Petraeus publicly discussed sensitive and previously unknown details about the assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

In an October 26 alumni symposium at the University of Denver, Paula Broadwell said that the CIA annex at the Benghazi consulate came under assault on Sept. 11 because it had earlier “taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back. It’s still being vetted.” (That information was not part of the CIA’s timeline of the Benghazi assault, and Eli Lake of the Daily Beast reports that the CIA has denied any such detention.) “I don’t know if a lot of you have heard this,” Broadwell prefaced her remarks by saying.

It was a surprising disclosure, given the deep classification of the CIA’s detention policies — and the enormous political stakes surrounding the Benghazi assault. But in many ways, it was only natural for Broadwell, given her evolution from Petraeus protegee to biographer to paramour and unofficial spokesperson.

More here, all worth reading, with some juicy details on the sex lives of the military elite.

Also out today, Petraeus says he knew nothing about Broadwell's harassing emails, and was shocked, shocked, to discover the behavior.

Previous reports, citing people involved in the FBI investigation that resulted in Petraeus' ouster, say Broadwell had classified docs on her computer, but that the CIA chief wasn't the source. So who was? And if we're reading this correctly, and Broadwell did leak secrets, will the administration prosecute her with the same zeal it has shown in going after Bradley Manning, Wikileaks and anyone suspected of being a Wikileaks supporter, and other corruption whistleblowers?

Additional questions I'd like to understand: if Petraeus didn't commit a crime, and there was no policy violation, why was he booted out—and in such dramatic fashion? Why did any of this end up going public, once the FBI determined he'd leaked no secrets and broken no laws or conduct codes?

Can the FBI be your private army? Harassing emails are not a crime. How did the FBI get access? If harassing emails are grounds for an FBI investigation, hoo boy, let me take you to my in-box, people.

Jill Kelley, the "other other woman," the unpaid "social liason" for CENTCOM in Tampa, evidently received a handful of "why are you flirting with my man" and "get away from my boo" emails from Broadwell, who used an alias and a poorly-cloaked Gmail account to send the harassing email.

Kelley is said to have contacted a friend who was an FBI agent, who very helpfully launched an official FBI probe to figure out who was sending her these annoying emails, which did not, according to reports, contain threats of personal harm or death.

Since when is the FBI available (for anyone with the right social connections) as a private troll-uncloaking cyber police force?

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the FBI to take action on an actual online death threat case, if the recipient isn't a well-connected "honorary ambassador" in the military social elite? The short version: it simply does not happen. This whole story smells.

As former Wired News reporter Ryan Singel tweeted, "If the Broadwell/Petraeus case doesn't show how ridiculous the FBI's powers are, I don't know what will prove it to you."

FBI buddy opens investigation. To see IF crime committed, get info from OTHER email providers to see if accessed from that IP. What?
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

This is total bullshit and reporters writing up as if this is normal practice. FBI ignores email death threats.
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

But someone with connex gets FBI to investigate random e-mails? And then FBI goes 2703D or NSL? Shameful.
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

Let me re-phrase: sending emails warning someone to stay away from yr man is free speech. Not grounds for FBI probe.
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

What judge approved inquiries and on what grounds? And if turned into nat sec inv. all these leak are illegal. There's no crime.
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

Final thought to press: The how, why, legality and import of FBI probe and powers is the story. Not the sex.
— Ryan Singel (@rsingel) November 12, 2012

L'affaire Petraeus: second woman identified, and Gmail metadata outed Broadwell and Petraeus

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 02:41:18 +0000

David Petraeus, L, used a pseudonymous Gmail account to sext biographer/lover Paula Broadwell, R. They were outed in part by Gmail metadata.

Well, that didn't take long.

On Friday, CIA chief and retired general David Petraeus, 60, resigned after an FBI probe stumbled on evidence of an extramarital affair, and hinted at possible security violations. The other woman was soon identified as Paula Broadwell, 40, his protegé, biographer, and paramour. The FBI encountered news of their liasons, the narrative went, after a woman who'd received threatening and harrassing emails from Broadwell complained to the FBI.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal identified that "other other woman" as being based in Florida, and specified that she was neither a government employee nor a member of Petraeus' family. Some of the defense/intelligence journalists I spoke to over the weekend theorized that Florida might mean Tampa, where the US military's Central Command and Special Operations Command is based, and that the as-yet-unidentified "other other woman" might be either a member of the press, or someone who works in a non-official capacity with CENTCOM, and may or may not have had any romantic connection with Petraeus.

They were right.

Today, the Associated Press broke the news the second woman was Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, FL. She serves as an unpaid volunteer "social liaison" to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, home of CENTCOM. Like Petraeus and Broadwell, Kelley is married, with children. She and her husband were regular guests at events he held at CENTCOM, and have been friends with Petraeus and his family for more than five years. The New York Times quotes a close friend of the Petraeus family as saying that Kelley is “a very well-known person of influence in the Tampa community,” who volunteers with "community organizations that support military causes." Like Broadwell, she is attractive (see thumbnail), and more than 20 years younger than Petraeus. No word yet on whether she, too, was bonking him.

The government source who spoke to the AP about Kelley did so under condition of anonymity, and got a little bitchy:

A U.S. official said the coalition countries represented at Central Command gave Kelley an appreciation certificate on which she was referred to as an "honorary ambassador" to the coalition, but she has no official status and is not employed by the U.S. government.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly, said Kelley is known to drop the "honorary" part and refer to herself as an ambassador.

Meow. Not the implied "invisible eye-roll" in that last line.

The Wall Street Journal published more details this afternoon, and identified Kelley's role with CENTCOM in Tampa as ~~"a State Department political adviser."~~ [Update: The WSJ issued a correction, and now identifies her as "a social planner," which echoes the AP and NYT reports].

The FBI began by pursuing "what they thought was a potential cybercrime, or a breach of classified information," the WSJ reports, but stumbled on "sexually explicit emails between two lovers, from an account Mr. Petraeus used a pseudonym to establish." Judging from previous reports, that would have been a Gmail account.

Initially, the FBI's investigation began with "five to 10 emails" received by Kelley from Broadwell, the first of which was sent "around May" 2012.

What's notable for those of us who use Gmail: metadata Google's email service stores by design may have been instrumental in revealing the identities of both Broadwell and Petraeus. America's spy-in-chief may have been narc'd out by Gmail. Snip:

The precise nature of Ms. Kelley's relationships with Ms. Broadwell and Mr. Petraeus, who ran the Tampa-based U.S. Central Command from 2008 to 2010, weren't known Sunday. Attempts to reach Ms. Broadwell and Ms. Kelley were unsuccessful. Neither had given a public statement as of Sunday evening. Ms. Kelley didn't know who sent the emails. Some appeared to be accusing her of an inappropriate relationship but didn't name Mr. Petraeus. Agents determined the emails were sent from an account shared by Ms. Broadwell and her husband, who live in North Carolina, the officials said.
But the agents spent weeks piecing together who may have sent them. They used metadata footprints left by the emails to determine what locations they were sent from. They matched the places, including hotels, where Ms. Broadwell was during the times the emails were sent. FBI agents and federal prosecutors used the information as probable cause to seek a warrant to monitor Ms. Broadwell's email accounts.
They learned that Ms. Broadwell and Mr. Petraeus had set up private Gmail accounts to use for their communications, which included explicit details of a sexual nature, according to U.S. officials. But because Mr. Petraeus used a pseudonym, agents doing the monitoring didn't immediately uncover that he was the one communicating with Ms. Broadwell.

The Wall Street Journal report continues with a tick-tock of what happened next. The FBI questioned Broadwell, asked for and received her computer, found classified documents, and determined that they hadn't come from Petraeus—so, there had been no national security breach involving the CIA chief, they deduced, and no criminal charges were filed.

Efforts to keep secret the probe (and the sex scandal it stumbled into) were unsuccessful. News leaked to lawmakers: Rep. David Reichert (R—WA), who then tipped off House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R—VA), who spoke with the FBI about it in October.

In the New York Times this evening, a detailed account of how pissed off other lawmakers are that they weren't informed of the long-running investigation into the Petraeus hanky panky, and questions about the timing of his ouster: just days after Obama was re-elected, and less than a week before he was due to testify about the attack on a US embassy in Benghazi that left multiple Americans dead. But if the investigation ruled out any criminal activity or security breaches on Petraeus' part, did the FBI owe it to anyone to share details of the probe?

A chronology of the email forensics in the New York Times matches the WSJ's, and begins with Kelley complaining of "about half a dozen anonymous e-mails accusing her of inappropriate flirtatious behavior with Mr. Petraeus." She reached out to an FBI agent who was also a personal friend; the yet-unidentified agent-pal launched an investigation. Snip:

Agents working with federal prosecutors in a local United States attorney’s office began trying to figure out whether the e-mails constituted criminal cyber-stalking. Because the sender’s account had been registered anonymously, investigators had to use forensic techniques — including a check of what other e-mail accounts had been accessed from the same computer address — to identify who was writing the e-mails.
Eventually they identified Ms. Broadwell as a prime suspect and obtained access to her regular e-mail account. In its in-box, they discovered intimate and sexually explicit e-mails from another account that also was not immediately identifiable. Investigators eventually ascertained that it belonged to Mr. Petraeus and studied the possibility that someone had hacked into Mr. Petraeus’s account or was posing as him to send the explicit messages.
Eventually they determined that Mr. Petraeus had indeed sent the messages to Ms. Broadwell and concluded that the two had had an affair. Then they turned their scrutiny on him, examining whether he knew about or was involved in sending the harassing e-mails to Ms. Kelley.

By then, in summer 2012, "lower-level Justice Department officials" alerted higher-ups that the case had become more complex, and the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section was called in to assist. More:

It remains unclear whether the F.B.I. also gained access to Mr. Petraeus’s personal e-mail account, or if it relied only on e-mails discovered in Ms. Broadwell’s in-box. It also remains uncertain exactly when the information about Mr. Petraeus reached Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director. Both men have declined to comment.

And separately in the New York Times, an odd profile piece about Broadwell. Neighbors say she was a "soccer mom" who "cooks dinner by candlelight" for her family and hands out Halloween candy for neighborhood kids, when she's not busy promoting her hagiography on Jon Stewart's show, or sending sexmail to Petraeus and threatmail to Kelley.

At Foreign Policy, Blake Hounshell blogs about "a bizarre twist" in the saga: Broadwell "gave a talk at the University of Denver on Oct. 26 in which she appeared to reveal sensitive, maybe even classified, information about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi."

The most interesting revelation is her claim that the CIA was holding two Libyan militia members prisoner, which may have prompted the attack. (Though she also sought to explain the Obama administration's initial view that the attack was linked to the YouTube video Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islam polemic that sparked riots across the Muslim world.) She also said flatly that forces at the CIA annex had requested backup from a special Delta Force group she called the CINC's in extremis force. It was not clear whether she was basing her comments on an Oct. 26 Fox News report by Jennifer Griffin, or whether her information came from elsewhere. (Griffin refers to it as "Commanders [sic] in Extremis Force," but does not mention Delta Force or any Libyan prisoners.)

Read the rest here. Hounshell's report cites this Israeli news report.

At the New Yorker, Jane Mayer asks why any of this ended up becoming public, if Petraeus broke no rules. "In this instance, evidently, there were no crimes. So why again did this blow up as it has?," she writes. Were politics involved?

(HT: @KMBTweets + @BWJones)

Best Petraeus conspiracy theory summary ever, from a BB commenter

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 17:56:26 +0000

"Now the Global Left/Soros/Cloward-Piven/Eric Holder/Mau Mau endgame approaches. Get ready for CIA Director Dennis Kucinich." From BB commenter SedanChair comes this gem of analytical bravado, a summary of farthest-of-far right-wing conspiracy theories on Petraeusgate.

How I Was Drawn Into the Cult of David Petraeus

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:47:50 +0000

At the Wired News defense blog Danger Room, a mea culpa of sorts by Spencer Ackerman, who realizes in hindsight that he helped perpetuate a myth of sorts about the recently-disgraced retired general and outgoing CIA chief.

Like many in the press, nearly every national politician, and lots of members of Petraeus’ brain trust over the years, I played a role in the creation of the legend around David Petraeus. Yes, Paula Broadwell wrote the ultimate Petraeus hagiography, the now-unfortunately titled All In. But she was hardly alone. (Except maybe for the sleeping-with-Petraeus part.) The biggest irony surrounding Petraeus’ unexpected downfall is that he became a casualty of the very publicity machine he cultivated to portray him as superhuman. I have some insight into how that machine worked.

Read the rest.

Leadership tips from Paula Broadwell

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:30:44 +0000

"Be positive. Everyone likes to be around people who exude energy. Find a way to give energy and encouragement. It is amazing how the right attitude and the ability to make others feel good about themselves can be a magnet for new friends and colleagues! A book that captures this phenomenon is Celestine Prophesy."—Petraeus biographer and alleged email harasser and paramour Paula Broadwell, interviewed for a lady leadership series. More about the Petraeus/Broadwell affair in this previous Boing Boing post. (via Robert Caruso)

Report: FBI investigation into CIA chief's email "started with two women," not Petraeus (updated)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:51:22 +0000

The Washington Post reports that the investigation into CIA chief David Petraeus began "when a woman whom he was having an affair with sent threatening e-mails to another woman close to him," citing "three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the episode" as sources. The Wall Street Journal reports the probe said the FBI began investigating after "a complaint from a woman in Florida" about Paula Broadwell, his biographer and lover. Other news accounts suggested that the FBI began snooping on the spy boss' Gmail account over fear it had been compromised by Chinese hackers.

If the prevailing narrative is true, Petraeus paramour Paula Broadwell used the same email account to send

A) Sexmail to Petraeus, and B) Threatmail to another woman.

Initial media speculation was that this "other woman" was a romantic rival (or perceived as one by Broadwell), but who knows? Bloomberg reports that the emails from Broadwell warned the woman to "stay away from" the general. But what if, instead, the target of Broadwell's threatening email were someone who knew too much? A woman who had knowledge of the affair and represented a threat of exposure. A Washington insider, maybe a reporter. "Stay away" not because you're a romantic rival, but because you might out us, and in so doing, destroy our lives.

The WSJ's late-Saturday story follows a love triangle narrative: the Florida woman's complaint "alleged Ms. Broadwell was sending harassing emails to her about the nature of the relationship between Mr. Petraeus and the Florida woman," and while no reporters claim to have seen the emails' contents, "people familiar with the investigations said they suggested Ms. Broadwell suspected the other woman was in a relationship with Mr. Petraeus." There is no evidence her suspicions were true, the WSJ adds.

The FBI worked with prosecutors in North Carolina (where Broadwell is based) and Florida (where the woman she emailed was based). The investigation initially focused on "the possibility of email hacking, because at least some of the emails sent by Ms. Broadwell to the other woman included contents of messages that appeared to come from Mr. Petraeus's own account."

Using one (insecure) email account for clandestine romantic communication and for personal threats to a third party is not very smart security protocol, and less than one might expect from a West Point grad who spent so many years in military circles.

Snip from AP counterterrorism/intel reporter Kim Dozier's account:

Broadwell has deep ties and friendships throughout the Washington media sphere and often was sought for comment on Petraeus' viewpoints as he proved harder and harder to reach. The CIA director had lowered his media profile, stopping his practice of emailing reporters and ending once-common background interviews by the agency.

By various accounts, the "other other woman" was neither a government employee nor a family member. My goodness, but this would make a good Jerry Springer episode.

From the WaPo:

The recipient of the e-mails was so frightened that she went to the FBI for protection and help tracking down the sender, according to the officials. The FBI investigation traced the threats to Paula Broadwell, a former military officer and a Petraeus biographer, and uncovered explicit e-mails between Broadwell and Petraeus, the officials said.
When Petraeus’s name first surfaced, FBI investigators were concerned that the CIA director’s personal e-mail account had been hacked and security had been breached. But the sexual nature of the e-mails led them to conclude that Petraeus and Broadwell were engaged in an affair, the officials said.
The identity of the woman who received the e-mails was not disclosed, and the nature of her relationship with Petraeus is unknown. The law enforcement officials said the e-mails indicated that Broadwell perceived the other woman as a threat to her relationship with Petraeus.

The WaPo account goes on to specify that national intelligence chief James Clapper learned about the matter "from the FBI on Tuesday evening around 5 p.m.” (that'd be election night), and that Clapper “advised Director Petraeus to resign,” which in civilian-speak sounds like he fired Petraeus.

An updated New York Times story today echoes a similar narrative: the investigation was triggered by a "complaint several months ago about 'harassing' e-mails sent by Paula Broadwell, Mr. Petraeus’s biographer, to an unidentified third person." The Times reports that most of the relevant emails from Petraeus came from his personal account (identified elsewhere as Gmail), not his official account.

When F.B.I. agents following up on the complaint began to examine Ms. Broadwell’s e-mails, they discovered exchanges between her and Mr. Petraeus that revealed that they were having an affair, said the official, who spoke of the investigation on the condition of anonymity.
The person who complained about harassing messages from Ms. Broadwell, according to the official, was not a family member or a government official. One Congressional official who was briefed on the matter on Friday said senior intelligence officials had explained that the F.B.I. investigation “started with two women.”
“It didn’t start with Petraeus, but in the course of the investigation they stumbled across him,” said the Congressional official, who said the intelligence officials had provided no other information about the two women or the focus of the inquiry. “We were stunned.”

Who was the "other other woman" in Florida who contacted law enforcement about the "harassing emails," then? A professional connection, or a personal one? Why did Broadwell see her as a threat?

Bloomberg on questions of whether security was breached:

Concerned after discovering correspondence because of an earlier Chinese hack into the Google Inc. e-mail service, which the McAfee Internet security company dubbed “Operation Aurora,” the FBI was investigating whether Petraeus’s private or CIA e-mail accounts had been compromised, the official said. They so far have found no evidence of a security breach, any loss of classified material or any evidence that another foreign power was aware of Petraeus’s infidelity, which the official said could have exposed him to blackmail.

Elsewhere, the WaPo reports that eyebrows were raised for some time about the unusual closeness of Broadwell and Petraeus when she embedded with him (snerk) for a year in Afghanistan.

“Her credentials didn’t add up,” said a former Petraeus staff member interviewed by Broadwell. “I was underwhelmed. It was surprising to me that she was his official biographer.”

The general's staff were also annoyed by Broadwell's penchant for form-fitting attire in Afghanistan, where tight pants and bosom-hugging blouses on women "can offend local sensibilities." And then, there was her habit of Facebook-humblebragging from the battlefield:

Officers close to Petraeus grew concerned about her posts on Facebook, which they believed sometimes divulged sensitive operational details. The posts, intended for friends back home, were often playfully written and aimed at showing off her adventures in the war zone.

After he left the military to head the CIA, a Princeton newspaper tried to reach out to Petraeus, who is a Princeton grad ('87), and Broadwell, about a profile. Broadwell wasn't a government employee, but seized the role of personal media liason. “Gen. Petraeus is going to send some thoughts which I’ll pass along to you this afternoon,” she told the Daily Princetonian in an email. More details here, which echo reports elsewhere of this unorthodox role.

tl;dr: Guns were smoking for a while. Why was the CIA chief outed now, and in such dramatic fashion, and effectively by the FBI? For moral failings, or leaks/security breaches, or something more complicated?

(via Blake Hounshell, Chris Soghoian; thanks to Phosphorius for the Overly Attached Broadwell meme-generation)

An interesting letter, which may or may not relate to Petraeus (Update: NYT says it's unrelated)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:45:02 +0000

A letter from an anonymous NYT reader to "Ethicist" writer Chuck Klosterman, titled "MY WIFE’S LOVER"—

My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me? NAME WITHHELD

Read the rest. Published: July 13, 2012. (via @blakehounshell)

Update: Not related, says NYT magazine editor Hugo Lindgren.

Petraeus outed by Gmail

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:38:53 +0000

As reported earlier today, CIA chief David Petraeus has resigned after an FBI probe into whether someone else was using his email led to the discovery he was having an extramarital affair.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the investigation focused on his Gmail account, and that the traffic they observed "led agents to believe the woman or someone close to her had sought access to his email." The woman in question has now been identified as West Point graduate Paula Broadwell, author of "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus."

While Mr. Petraeus was still a general, he had email exchanges with the woman, but there wasn't a physical relationship, the person said. The affair began after Mr. Petraeus retired from the Army in August 2011 and ended months ago, the person said.

Previously: CIA chief Petraeus steps down, having failed to keep his drone in his pants

CIA chief Petraeus steps down, having failed to keep his drone in his pants

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 23:25:34 +0000

David H. Petraeus, the head of America's Central Intelligence Agency, resigned just days after the election after issuing a statement saying he had engaged in an extramarital affair.

"By acknowleding an extramarital affair, Mr. Petraeus, 60, was confronting a sensitive issue for a spy chief," reports the New York Times. "Intelligence agencies are often concerned about the possibility that agents who engage in such behavior could be blackmailed for information."

In an email to Wired's national security blog Danger Room, a former confidant says of the disgraced general, “He feels that he screwed up. He did a dishonorable thing and needed to try to do the honorable thing.” The source says the affair began after Petraeus retired from the military and became CIA director. Petraeus is a retired four-star U.S. Army general, and was once considered a possible presidential candidate. He has been married to Holly Petraeus, an assistant director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for 37 years.

Paula Broadwell, the author of Petraeus' biography, "All In," is now under investigation by the FBI: her role gave her access to his email, and to the the general in person in Afghanistan.

Petraeus was due to testify in Washington about Benghazi next week. Some are questioning the timing of his resignation, believing that it is political in nature: did the White House stall the bad news until the election was won? Is there a Libya connection?

~~The woman with whom he had the affair has not been identified~~. Update: The woman with whom he had the affair has been identified as the aforementioned biographer Paula Broadwell, who was, uh, embedded with him in Afghanistan.

Greg Miller, intelligence reporter for the Washington Post, tweets: "Officials confirm Petraeus affair surfaced during FBI probe of his email. He called [National Security Advisor Thomas] Donilon Thursday asking for time with the president."

Just last week, the Daily Beast published an excerpt from Broadwell's book. The excerpt was titled, "General David Petraeus’s Rules for Living." Among those rules:

We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognize them and admit them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear view mirrors—drive on and avoid making them again.

Michael J. Morell, the CIA's deputy director, will take over as acting director. The account at Danger Room is worth reading for a deeper look.

Ah the classic spurned lover tries to hack your email, except you're the director of the CIA, so the FBI notices, gambit.
— Joshua Hersh (@joshuahersh) November 9, 2012

It's your time to shine, conspiracy theorists!
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) November 9, 2012

"Does Don't Ask Don't Tell cover affairs?No? I am SO fucked." - Gen. Petraeus
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) November 10, 2012

I'm just saying: remember Tarok Kolache registan.net/2011/01/13/the…
— joshuafoust (@joshuafoust) November 9, 2012

.@presssec: If FBI Dir Mueller knew of the Petraeus affair before the election, why was the President informed the day after the election?
— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) November 10, 2012

I miss the good old days, when CIA directors just fucked America.
— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) November 10, 2012

All right, everyone making "All In" jokes. That'll do.
— allisonkilkenny (@allisonkilkenny) November 10, 2012

Droning & torturing innocent ppl is no good reason for resignation. Having an affair is. #Petraeus.
— Maher Arar (@ArarMaher) November 10, 2012