Petraeus Scandal, Kelley Bragged: “I’m Honorary Consul in South Korea”

The “third woman” of the former head of the CIA tried to defraud a businessman of $80 million by feigning connections in Washington. Meanwhile, the former general swears this story has nothing to do with Benghazi: “Right now, I’m only thinking of my marriage.”* Hillary Clinton is waiting for a congressional hearing. And the CIA has opened an official investigation.

TAMPA — Jill’s email arrives on the morning of Sept. 28, just two weeks after the attack on Benghazi that is dragging the former CIA chief before a congressional hearing today. “I’m in DC today — just left from breakfast at the White House.” Incredible Kelley: the housewife who desperately chases generals now brags about having her hooks in the presidency? The more we get into this “PetraeusGate” that is pushing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to order a review of ethical standards for generals, the more the beautiful Lebanese woman from Tampa shows a particularly disturbing side.

The Galaxy of Scandal / The Stages

Adam Victor, an entrepreneur who landed in Florida following Mitt Romney’s convention, told the Tampa Bay Times that he had been approached by the woman, who offered herself up as an intermediary for a deal in South Korea. She said it was Petraeus who gave her the title that she proudly showed off: Honorary Consul of Seoul. The negotiation continued until Jill, who is now discovered to have been in debt up to her neck, shot off her fee: “Eighty million dollars, a figure that’s out of this world! I realized that her story didn’t add up.”*

Nothing in this story adds up so far except one thing: the most powerful men on earth — from CIA Director Petraeus to Gen. John Allen (the next in line to be commander of NATO) — risked themselves for two women. Jill is one of them. And the other is the now well-known Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’s biographer-lover.

In his first confession after the scandal, the former general swore on CNN that this story has nothing to do Benghazi. “I made a serious mistake,” he says, “shameful behavior. Luckily I have a much better wife than I deserve, and now all my efforts are concentrated here, in putting my family back together. But believe me,” he says, “it’s just an extramarital affair, there was never classified information, I haven’t spoken to Paula for months.”*

That may be. But The Wall Street Journal reveals that before his resignation, Petraeus was on a collision course with the White House. Republicans accused the CIA and the administration of covering up the al-Qaida attack by justifying it as a protest against an anti-Islamic film, and so Petraeus decided to defend his 007s and himself — without coordinating with the President’s Men. Yesterday, the White House showed the congressional investigation committee a video that, for the first time, shows that the assault really seems to have begun as a spontaneous demonstration. But then, to complicate matters, there is Paula who, even before the scandal, revealed undisclosed news about Benghazi and today admits to having kept classified information in her files. And how was she going to use that information? Was it really just to write a new book?

This is where very private sexual affairs mingle with reality much more tragically. The anonymous email that Paula sent Jill (“get your hands off my Petraeus,” it practically says, but without naming names) triggered the FBI investigation. But Paula’s threats also come right to Allen, the general who flirted with Kelley, as well as a handful of other stars. So she is the one who opened the can of worms. Was it by chance, by herself or on behalf of someone else? After the former general, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now also going to appear before Congress. And the CIA has decided to open an official fact-finding investigation on the behavior of its former boss. Get comfortable: “PetraeusGate” has just begun.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, cannot be verified.