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Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite at the centre of CIA director David Petraeus downfall, is planning a tell-all book, according to friends.
Jill Kelley, 37, is understood to have held preliminary talks with publishers to tell her side of the story that led to the resignation of General David Petraeus.
“Trust me, there is going to be a book in the New Year. You can count on it,” said a friend of the Tampa socialite.
She has not spoken about her pivotal role in the scandal which led to David Petraeus’s affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell being exposed last month.
David Petraeus, 60,resigned as CIA director when the affair became known following an FBI investigation that was sparked by Jill Kelley.
Another senior military figure, General John R. Allen, became embroiled in the scandal after allegedly exchanging inappropriate emails with the Tampa based Jill Kelley.
The mother of three had befriended David Petraeus and General John Allen when they were both stationed at US Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base near her home overlooking Tampa Bay.
She threw lavish parties for the generals and used her connections to military to visit the White House on three occasions.
Jill Kelley was also accused of using her high powered connections to try to secure an $80 million check by brokering an energy deal between a New York businessman and her contacts with the South Korean Government.
Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite at the centre of CIA director David Petraeus downfall, is planning a tell-all book
Friends say Jill Kelley’s book will be “payback” for the humiliation she has suffered since her name became linked to the scandal.
“Jill is very angry, and it’s fair to say she wants to tell her side of the story,” said a friend.
“She has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live and feels she has been made to look like a fool.
“She said her best way of putting the record straight is a book. A TV interview only lasts a few minutes, but a book is there all the time. That is why she has said no to doing any TV. She wants it to be a matter of record and will do TV when the book comes out.”
As an apparently wealthy socialite who schmoozed some of America’s most senior military figures, Jill Kelley has an intriguing story to tell.
With its ingredients of sex, spies and lies any book would likely be a best seller – and generate a large sum of money for the cash-strapped Kelleys.
Jill Kelley and her cancer surgeon husband Scott have faced the embarrassment of having their personal financial details made public.
They owe millions to banks and facing foreclosure on their $1.3 million mansion overlooking Tampa Bay.
Jill Kelley, who enjoys shopping for designer clothes, is being chased for $25,000 in unpaid credit card bills
But despite her perilous financial state being laid bare she told friends the most humiliating part was being compared to the reality star Kim Kardashian.
Jill Kelley and her sister Natalie Khawam have been nicknamed the “Tampa Kardashians”.
A colonel at the MacDill Air Force Base said many people there were considered her a military groupie and likened her to the Kardashians.
“Of everything that has been written and said about her, that is what hurts the most,” said the friend.
“She finds it insulting as the Kardashians go out of their way to get publicity. Jill did not seek any of this.”
As part of the fallout from the scandal Jill Kelley’s role as a goodwill ambassador to the MacDill Air Force Base has been suspended.
She has also been stripped of her title of Honorary Consul that was bestowed upon her by South Korea.
Officials with the South Korean Government said she losing the title for misusing it for personal gain.
Jill Kelley received no official privileges from the title, but did try to claim diplomatic protection when the media swarmed over her house after her name became linked to the scandal.
She has also been ordered to remove the vanity license plate that says Honorary Consul from her silver Mercedes.
When Paula Broadwell, the biographer mistress of David Petraeus, was discovered to be hiding out at her brother Stephen Kranz’s handsome Washington D.C. townhouse, many would have thought that as far as bolt holes go she did just fine.
After figuratively going to ground following the revelation of her affair with CIA chief David Petraeus and his resignation, Paula Broadwell was photographed earlier in the week with glass of wine in hand preparing an evening meal in the grand kitchen of the $2.3 million home.
Since then, Paula Broadwell has evaded the massed ranks of the media who have camped outside the Mount Pleasant home, but with seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, cabin fever might not set in for the 40-year-old West Point graduate any time soon.
It was Paula Broadwell who was allegedly responsible for setting off the chain of events which led to her being hounded by the world’s press to the front door of her brother Stephen Kranz’s home at 1841 Park Road.
Paula Broadwell is believed to have sent threatening emails to Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley, who she perceived as a rival for the affections of retired four star general David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley in turn reported these messages to a friendly FBI agent who set off an investigation which uncovered evidence of the affair and “inappropriate” exchanges between Kelley and General John Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
In fact the bombshell of the illicit affair that rocked the nation broke when Paula Broadwell and her husband Scott were enjoying a two-day break at the Middleton Inn in Little Washington, Virginia.
The beautiful and stately home became the centre of the world’s news when Paula Broadwell was seen looking strained and tense while holding a glass of wine in her hand on Tuesday evening.
Stephen Kranz’s home became the centre of the world’s news when Paula Broadwell was seen looking strained and tense while holding a glass of wine in her hand on Tuesday evening
Reporters were first alerted to her possible presence in Washington D.C. when her drivers licence was found by a jogger in nearby Rock Creek Park.
Indeed, 1841 Park Road is part of local history for the civil rights movement.
In 1950, two years after the U.S. Supereme Court ruled that neighborhood covenants restricting home ownership on the basis of race, the house was purchased by a Dr. Robert Deane, who was black.
The all-white residents of Mount Pleasant tried to sue to block the sale, but courts threw their complaints out and the sale went through.
Dr. Robert Deane lived in the property until his death in 2001.
The Tampa, Florida, military base that has gained notoriety for its connection to General David Petraeus’ sex scandal has been compared to Wisteria Lane from the show Desperate Housewives where out-of-control parties with top brass are a nightly occurrence, and where social climbing is a favorite pastime.
Those visiting MacDill Air Force Base for the first time will likely be surprised to see the sprawling bay front homes with covered porches, the upscale gym, golf course, boat rentals and other trappings of the good life that bear little resemblance to nearly any other military outpost.
“It’s the nicest base I’ve ever seen,” a private contractor with base access told The Daily Beast.
“It blew me away, as far as what the taxpayers pay for.”
People familiar with the culture of MacDill say they are not surprised by the recent revelations that David Petraeus had an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, which was made public after Jill Kelley, a Tampa socialite with close ties to the base, set off an FBI investigation into the CIA director’s mistress.
Jill Kelley, described as a social climber and fierce self-promoter who was obsessed with powerful men, allegedly exchanged flirtatious emails with another general, John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
The sexual intrigue and heady mix of power and wealth appear to be mainstays on the military base known in Tampa as Wisteria Lane, referring to the infamous street where the philandering characters of Desperate Housewives reside.
“It’s well-known in social circles that all the big wigs do a lot of partying,” said Jack Belich, a private investigator in nearby St. Petersburg told the Daily Beast.
“That’s just part of the way they operate over there, and Tampa has always had these social gadflies and liaisons.”
MacDill Air Force Base, which has gained notoriety for its connection to David Petraeus’ sex scandal, has been compared to Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives
Jill Kelley was well-connected with people on the base, among them a White House attorney who gave her and her family access to the presidential residence on three separate occasions.
Tampa Bay Magazine Editor Aaron Fodiman described Jill Kelley as “charming, lovely, and vivacious” hostess who would frequently throw parties for top military officials at her lavish $1.3 million home on Bayshore Boulevard.
Aaron Fodiman pointed out, however, that Jill Kelley was just one of “hundreds” of people in the affluent community eager to entertain military heroes who have been enjoying a superstar status in Tampa.
Jill Kelley was one of about 800 members of Friends of MacDill who are allowed to access the base unescorted in the daytime hours.
Tim Sweeney, a fellow member of the group, said that its purpose is to involve the community in the base’s daily life, and most of those who participate are driven by noble motives, not by a desire to get rich or make a name for oneself.
That said, Tim Sweeney conceded that the top military brass in Tampa are the people that Jill Kelley and her ilk would have wanted to rub shoulders with.
“MacDill folks are the closest thing Tampa comes to having real celebrities. The Kelley’s are clearly the exception to the rule,” Tim Sweeney said.
“I just think it was a way for them to become socially prominent in the community.”
Jill Kelley has been tied to the scandal that prompted the resignation of retired General David Petraeus as CIA director.
David Petraeus admitted having an affair with his married biographer, Paula Broadwell.
Federal officials say Paula Broadwell sent emails to Jill Kelley, perceiving her as a romantic rival. That FBI investigation uncovered emails between Jill Kelley and Gen. John Allen during his time as head of Central Command in Tampa.
Florida socialite Jill Kelley tried to cash in on her “honorary consul” title by asking for $80 million for her help in putting together an energy deal.
Jill Kelley asked for 2% of a multi-billion deal being considered by an alternative energy company called TransGas Development Systems.
Jill Kelley, 37, was even flown to New York by the company so she could learn more about the business.
But according to company president Adam Victor, he realized she didn’t have a clue about commercial deals when she asked for the eight figure sum for brokering any deal.
Adam Victor said he met Jill Kelley at the Republican Convention in Tampa in September where she boasted about her close contacts with General David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley also told him she was honorary consul for South Korea and Adam Victor admitted he thought her links with officials from the country could help his business.
“When I met with [her], she seemed extremely interested in coal gasification,” Adam Victor said.
He told the Tampa Tribune that he flew Jill Kelley to New York to learn more about his company’s clean coal technology and believed her close ties to David Petraeus could help win energy contacts in South Korea.
Jill Kelley tried to cash in on her honorary consul title by asking for $80 million for her help in putting together an energy deal
Adam Victor said he was shocked when Jill Kelley, who owes millions to the bank and in credit card debt, asked for 2% of any deal that was signed.
The energy chief said he was so taken back by the demand that he began to question her experience in putting together deals. He also cut all ties with her.
A spokesman for Jill Kelley said she was not aware of TransGas.
Meanwhile, South Korean officials are now examining if Jill Kelley should retain the title “honorary consul”.
“We are looking at what is going on around her,” said Tae-jin Kim from the South Korean embassy.
“I think there is a possibility we will review her status.”
Jill Kelley parades around Tampa in a silver Mercedes with the license plate “Honorary Consul”.
She also tried to ask for diplomatic protection after her name first became linked to the downfall for former CIA director David Petraeus.
Losing her honorary consul status will be another slap in the face for Jill Kelley who has already had her pass to the MacDill Air force base revoked.
That was far from the first time that Jill Kelley ruffled feathers at the military base, as the wife of General John Allen, the top military commander under investigation for sending “flirty” emails to a Florida party organizer, was unhappy about their close friendship.
Kathy Allen complained to the wife of a civil liaison officer at Central Command in Tampa about the number of emails her husband was receiving from socialite Jill Kelley.
Jill Kelley, who reveled in her close links to senior military men, was warned several times to stop bombarding the general with emails.
Paula Broadwell and Jill Kelley, the two women at the centre of the Petraeus sex scandal are facing the prospect of being blackballed by the military establishment.
The US military has revoked access for two women at the heart of the scandal that led to Friday’s resignation of General David Petraeus as CIA director.
Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa socialite who hosted parties for the nation’s top brass, has been told yesterday that she is no longer welcome at military HQ near her Florida home. Her pass at the Florida air force base where she organized social events has been frozen.
An FBI inquiry into Jill Kelley’s complaints of email harassment revealed that Paula Broadwell and General David Petraeus had been having an affair.
Paula Broadwell, who is a military intelligence reservist with the rank of lieutenant colonel has had her government security clearance suspended pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
Paula Broadwell, a 40-year-old married mother of two, had apparently sent the anonymous emails to Jill Kelley warning her to stay away from David Petraeus.
Paula Broadwell and Jill Kelley, the two women at the centre of the Petraeus sex scandal are facing the prospect of being blackballed by the military establishment
President Barack Obama says he has seen “no evidence” that former CIA director David Petraeus’ extramarital affair compromised national security.
General David Petraeus’ resignation should be a “sidenote” to his distinguished career, Barack Obama added in his first public comments on the scandal.
The general will testify to Congress about September’s attack on the US consulate in Libya, a top senator says.
Republican senators have called for a joint committee to probe that attack.
Barack Obama declined to say whether the White House should have been informed earlier of the investigation into David Petraeus.
“I am withholding judgment with respect to how the entire process surrounding General Petraeus came up. We don’t have all the information yet,” Barack Obama said.
He added that he had a lot of confidence in the FBI and that they have a “difficult job” to do.
News of the scandal shocked officials in Washington in the immediate aftermath of the US election. Congressional leaders of both parties have said they should have been informed earlier.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said General David Petraeus, who stepped down on Friday, would give evidence only about the Benghazi attack, in which four Americans were killed.
He would not testify about his resignation over an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, she added.
Confirmation that David Petraeus will attend a committee hearing comes after days of reports focusing on the fallout from the revelation that he had an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell.
After the CIA director’s resignation, it then emerged that Jill Kelley, who filed a harassment report over emails she received that led to the discovery of the affair, was in contact with Marine General John Allen.
The link to General John Allen – currently commanding US forces in Afghanistan and nominated to be the top NATO commander in Europe – prompted the US defence secretary and the White House to stress they have complete confidence in him.
But Leon Panetta requested that Gen Allen’s nomination as Supreme Allied Commander of US and NATO troops in Europe be placed on hold, saying it was the “prudent” thing to do.
President Barack Obama says he has seen no evidence that David Petraeus’ extramarital affair compromised national security
General John Allen has denied any wrongdoing and has spoken to Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to emphasize he is innocent of misconduct, a spokesman for Gen Dempsey said.
David Petraeus could appear before congressional committees as early as Thursday, although no final date for a hearing has been confirmed.
Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the general would be asked about the Benghazi attacks, which took place while he was in charge of the CIA.
The attack – initially blamed on a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islamic film – remains a divisive issue in Washington and a focal point of Republican anger.
Arizona Senator John McCain led a group of Republican senators on Wednesday calling for the establishment of a special committee to investigate the deaths of the four Americans, which included the Ambassador Christopher Stevens, in Benghazi.
They said there was need to find out whether there had been a cover-up over the attack, which Senator Lindsay Graham referred to in the same breath as Watergate and the Iran/Contra scandal.
Republicans have also criticized UN Ambassador Susan Rice, after she cited the protests as the reason for the attacks in appearances on US media.
On Wednesday, Barack Obama said Susan Rice had fulfilled her diplomatic duties with “skill and professionalism, and toughness and grace”, and that it was “outrageous” to muddy her reputation.
The president suggested that Republicans had criticized Susan Rice “apparently because they think she’s an easy target”, and said he would co-operate with congressional investigations into what happened in Benghazi.
Meanwhile, acting CIA Director Michael Morell began meetings with legislators in the Senate on Tuesday to answer questions about David Petraeus’ resignation.
Legislators are concerned about a possible breach of national security after it was reported that classified material was discovered on Paula Broadwell’s computer.
However, FBI officials have said the agency concluded in its investigation that there had not been any security breach.
President Barack Obama has made his first public comments on the scandal at a news conference, before meeting business leaders.
His remarks concentrated on his economic agenda and plans for reaching a deal to avoid a package of spending cuts and tax rises known as the “fiscal cliff”.
While David Petraeus attempts to focus on Benghazi, Pentagon investigators are also examining as many as 30,000 pages of Gen Allen’s documents.
They are said to include extensive communication between the general and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old, married Florida socialite.
The emails are now understood to have included pet names such as “sweetheart” or “dear” but were not sexually explicit or seductive, the Associated Press reports.
In May, Jill Kelley reported anonymous, harassing emails to the FBI. The agency launched an investigation that traced the emails to Paula Broadwell and revealed her affair with David Petraeus.
Jill Kelley has been described as a “social liaison” for the MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida. Home to the US Central Command, both generals have served at the base in recent years.
The Kelleys are said to have developed close friendships with General David Petraeus and General John Allen, both of whom wrote letters supporting Jill Kelley’s twin sister, Natalie Khawam, in a messy custody battle for her son.
Jill Kelley is known to have thrown extravagant parties for the officers posted there and in August was appointed as an honorary consul representing South Korea, ABC News reports.
It is reported that her Mercedes car displays consular license plates reading “JK1”.
In a recording of a phone call to police on Monday, Jill Kelley asked for diplomatic immunity to have media crews waiting outside her house removed.
“I’m an honorary consul general, so I have inviolability, so they should not be able to cross my property. I don’t know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well,” Jill Kelley can be heard saying.
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General David Petraeus took his mistress Paula Broadwell with him on a government funded trip to Paris after he was named director of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to news reports.
David Petraeus made the trip with 40-year-old Paula Broadwell, who has written a fawning biography of him, in July 2011, an unnamed source told Buzzfeed. He was heading to his new job as chief of the CIA at the time.
Sixteen months later, the four-star general has resigned from his post after his affair with Paula Broadwell was uncovered by the FBI.
Buzzfeed also reports that David Petraeus’s unofficial press agent, Tom Ricks, helped Paula Broadwell score a literary agent, a publisher and a six-figure deal for her biography.
Paula Broadwell isn’t the only biographer of David Petraeus’s who has gotten special treatment from him.
His first biographer, former U.S. News and World Reporter Linda Robinson, went to work for David Petraeus at U.S. Central Command shortly after publishing her book, Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq.
General David Petraeus took his mistress Paula Broadwell with him on a government funded trip to Paris after he was named CIA director
David Petraeus’s affair with Paula Broadwell was uncovered when the FBI began an investigation after suspecting corruption between the pair.
He issued a statement acknowledging the affair after President Barack Obama accepted his resignation, which was announced by the CIA soon after.
“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” he said in the statement.
“Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”
Four-star general David Petraeus was a star on the battlefield, commanding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but his impeccable judgement failed him when he engaged in an extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell that led to his downfall as CIA Director.
Celebrated as a scholar and a warrior, the 60-year-old Princeton graduate is admired as much for his intellect as he was his tactical ability and charisma on the battlefield.
Seen as one of the top American leaders of his generation, David Petraeus became known as an “A list” celebrity, is credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of all-out civil war and had a career so stellar he once seemed on course for the US presidency.
After his revolutionary counter-insurgency tactics saved Iraq, David Petraeus oversaw battlefield success in Afghanistan commanding a surge of 30,000 troops ordered by President Barack Obama in late 2009.
“I don’t think he was professionally overrated. His were genuine accomplishments,” said James Carafano, a war historian with the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
Senator John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate and the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Friday that David Petraeus is one of “America’s greatest military heroes”.
“His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible – after years of failure – for the success of the surge in Iraq,” John McCain said.
Indeed, as the U.S presidential campaign heated up in 2011, there was genuine talk of the war-hero running as part of a Republican ticket, potentially as vice-president.
The rumors continued up until August of this year, when the White House was forced to deny a report that President Barack Obama feared Mitt Romney stumping for the then CIA chief as his running mate.
In fact, at the time of his nomination to the CIA post, some Washington insiders had said the White House wanted to find a high-profile position for David Petraeus to ensure he would not be recruited by Republicans as a challenger to the 2012 Obama-Biden ticket.
However, ever the loyal soldier, David Petraeus repeatedly distanced himself from ambitions of elected office.
“I am not a politician, and I will never be, and I say that with absolute conviction,” David Petraeus said on NBC’s Meet the Press in August 2010.
When he was nominated to lead the CIA there were some concerns in intelligence circles that the high-profile four-star Army general might not be able to lead from the shadows as appropriate for a spy chief.
But once he took over the head office at the U.S. spy agency, David Petraeus kept a decidedly low public profile.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, expressed regret about the resignation of “one of America’s best and brightest” and said it was an “enormous loss” for the country.
“At CIA, Director Petraeus gave the agency leadership, stature, prestige and credibility both at home and abroad. On a personal level, I found his command of intelligence issues second to none,” Dianne Feinstein said.
After accepting his resignation about a year-and-a-half after nominating David Petraeus to the CIA post, Barack Obama said: “By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end.”
David Petraeus was sworn in as CIA chief in September 2011 by Joe Biden with his wife Holly at his side
In 2010, David Petraeus stepped into the breach as the new commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to replace General Stanley McChrystal who was fired by Obama in a scandal over an article in which McChrystal and his aides made mocking comments about the president and some of his top advisers.
In 2009, David Petraeus was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and underwent radiation treatment. The media-friendly general joked at that time at a Washington event that reporters were only gathered “to see if the guy is still alive”.
David Petraeus, born in Cornwall, New York, lives in Virginia with his wife Holly. They have two grown children, a son who was an Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, and a daughter.
Known for his intensely competitive nature, David Petraeus graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1974, was the top of his 1983 class at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and went on to earn a doctorate in International Relations at Princeton in 1987.
His commands included the legendary 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and during that campaign he quickly secured the north of the country around Mosul.
The soldier headed up the American efforts to train Iraqi security forces and eventually returned to the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to write his counterinsurgency manual – which is now required reading.
From that point onwards he became the logical choice for President George W. Bush to lead his “surge” in January 2007 which allowed the United States to completely withdraw from Iraq four-years later.
David Petraeus’s wife, Holly, is an activist and volunteer who champions military families, and she continued that work after her husband retired from the military and moved to the CIA.
Holly Petraeus currently is assistant director of the office of service member affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she tries to keep unscrupulous lenders from taking advantage of military personnel.
The bureau was championed by Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, who was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts this week.
Holly Petraeus is the daughter of four-star General William Knowlton, who was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point when Petraeus was a cadet.
She briefed the press at the Pentagon on her efforts recently and was introduced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who called her “a true friend of the Department of Defense and a dedicated member of our military family”.
David Petraeus has four Defense Distinguished Service Medal awards, three Distinguished Service Medal awards, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, and the State Department Distinguished Service Award.
