An FBI employee tipped off House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in October about former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’s affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, which eventually led to Petraeus’s resignation last Friday.
Cantor spokesperson Doug Heye confirmed on Monday the whistle-blower did indeed speak with Cantor.
Petraeus resigned last Friday after his affair with Broadwell came to light.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) had a friend who knew the whistle-blower. Reichert spoke to the individual, according to the Times, and then referred the person to Cantor’s office.
According to Fox News, Cantor staffers “didn’t immediately tell the House Intelligence Committee or chamber leaders because they didn’t know whether the tip was credible.”
The FBI investigation started when Jill Kelley, a Tampa, Florida woman who did volunteer liaison work at MacDill Air Force Base, received threatening e-mails from Broadwell and reported them to the FBI. An investigation concluded the e-mails came from dummy accounts Broadwell set up so she could harass Kelley.
Broadwell believed Kelley was also having an affair with Petraeus, but members of Petraeus’s family told the Associated Press on Sunday that Petraeus and Kelley were not romantically involved.
The FBI’s investigation found Broadwell may have had access to Petraeus’s personal email account, which is how she may have intercepted emails between him and Kelley.
During a speech at the University of Denver promoting her biography of Petraeus, Broadwell may have inadvertently revealed that Libyan terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Libya to take back prisoners from a secret CIA prison, which President Obama had supposedly shut down.
Petraeus cancelled his scheduled testimony about Libya before Congress this week, even though his resignation does not preclude him from doing so. He could also be prosecuted for adultery under Military Law if he began his affair with Broadwell before leaving the Army.
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