REPORT: Harassing emails led to FBI probe

The scandal that brought down CIA Director David Petraeus started with harassing emails sent by his biographer and paramour, Paula Broadwell, to another woman, and eventually led the FBI to discover the affair, U.S. officials said.     

Petraeus quit Friday after acknowledging an extramarital relationship. FBI investigation began several months ago with a complaint against Broadwell, a 40-year-old graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and an Army Reserve officer. That probe led agents to her email account, which uncovered the relationship with the 60-year-old retired four-star general, who earned acclaim for his leadership of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.     

The identity of the other woman and her connection with Broadwell were not immediately known.       

Petraeus decided to quit, abruptly ending a high-profile career that might have culminated with a run for the presidency, a notion he was believed to be considering.           

Petraeus handed his resignation letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday, stunning many in the White House, the CIA and Congress. The news broke in the media before the House and Senate intelligence committees had been briefed, officials say.     

By Friday evening, multiple officials identified Broadwell, who spent the better part of a year reporting on Petraeus' time in Afghanistan.     

Petreaus's resignation comes just before a crucial scheduled appearance before congressional intelligence committees next week to testify on what the CIA knew, and what it told the White House, before, during and after the attacks that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11.


AP

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