According to a nearly complete investigation, Marine Gen. John Allen played a role in the scandal which prompted CIA Director David Petraeus' resignation. General Allen's involvement has delayed a planned White House decision to transfer him to Europe.?
The scandal that felled CIA Director?David Petraeus?widened on Tuesday to snare the top U.S. commander in?Afghanistan, Marine General?John Allen, who was being investigated for "flirtatious" communications with a woman at the center of the case.
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Though a law enforcement probe has not uncovered any evidence so far of legal wrongdoing or security risks, it does raise questions about the unusually close relationship between a?Florida?socialite, her sister and two of the most powerful men in the?United States' national security apparatus.
The woman in question, Jill Kelley, has emerged as a central figure in the scandal that has brought down one of the most admired military leaders in the?United States?and threatens to derail the career of another.
Defense officials and people close to Petraeus?say neither he nor Allen had a romantic relationship with Kelley, a 37-year-old wife and mother, who is described as a prominent presence in military circles in?Tampa.
She may have been seen as a rival by Petraeus' biographer,?Paula Broadwell, who sent Kelley a series of anonymous, harassing emails which touched off an investigation that uncovered evidence of an affair between Petraeus?and Broadwell.
According to law enforcement sources, FBI investigators decided to pursue the matter when they found the messages contained information about the CIA chief's activities that was not publicly available.
Kelley had gotten to know both Petraeus?and Allen as a volunteer setting up social events at?MacDill Air Force Base?outside?Tampa,?headquarters of U.S. Central Command.
The relationship was evidently close enough that both men intervened in a child custody battle involving Kelley's twin sister,?Natalie Khawam.
"She is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love, and care for her son," Allen wrote about Khawam in a Sept. 22 letter to a Washington, D.C., court.
Allen and Kelley communicated often enough over the past two years to produce between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of email and other messages, which were turned over to Defense Department investigators on Sunday.
The actual volume of communications is likely much smaller, an official said, as the printouts include messages involving other people and email threads including prior communications.
A senior defense official told Reuters the messages were seen as inappropriate because they were "flirtatious" in nature, not because they dealt with sensitive information.
But "flirtatious" may be an understatement. Another U.S. official said the?Pentagon?only decided to refer it for investigation after an initial look found the communications to be of "a sufficient character" to warrant further review.
Allen has denied that the two had a sexual relationship, officials said on condition of anonymity. Adultery can lead to a dishonorable discharge under U.S. military law.
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