Paula Broadwell photographed for the first time since the resignation of David Petraeus at her brother’s home in Washington DC

Pictured for the first time since her scandalous affair with shamed former CIA boss David Petraeus became public on Friday, Paula Broadwell has taken refuge at a house owned by her brother, Stephen Kranz, in the Petworth suburb of Washington D.C.

The 40-year-old mother of two was seen looking pensive as she sipped a glass of red wine and spoke to a man and woman in the kitchen on Tuesday night – yet there was no sign of her husband Scott Broadwell.

Paula Broadwell’s emergence from the shadows came a night after FBI agents visited her Charlotte, North Carolina home and left with electronic equipment. She has not returned there since the scandal broke.

A source told ABC the search came after Paula Broadwell admitted to the FBI that she had taken significant amounts of military documents, including classified material, from government buildings to her home.

The government demanded she return the documents and organized the visit. Prosecutors are now deciding whether to charge her with a crime as she has potentially violated federal law.

It was Paula Broadwell’s threatening emails to Jill Kelley, a Florida socialite who is a David Petraeus family friend that led to the FBI’s discovery of the affair between the biographer-turned-mistress and the nation’s top spy-chief.