The collapse of the dazzling career of CIA Director David H. Petraeus was triggered when a woman with whom he was having an affair sent threatening e-mails to another woman close to him, according to three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the episode.
That is the opening paragraph of
this breaking Washington Post story.
The recipient of the e-mails was so frightened that she went to the FBI for protection and help tracking down the sender, according to the officials. The FBI investigation traced the threats to Paula Broadwell, a former military officer and Petraeus biographer, and uncovered explicit e-mails between Broadwell and Petraeus, the officials said.
In tracing the emails, the FBI originally was concerned about a possible security breach but eventually concluded that was going on was an affair.
The identity of the woman who received the e-mails was not disclosed and the nature of her relationship with Petraeus is unknown. The law enforcement officials said the e-mails indicated that Broadwell perceived the other woman as a threat to her relationship with Petraeus.
The speculation will begin. If in fact Petraeus was having multiple affairs, his reputation will truly be shredded. As yet we do not know.