The center of gravity in the Petraeus sex scandal has shifted to a mysterious woman in Tampa, Fla., that many of our top military and law-enforcement brass appear to have become obsessed with.
We know some basic facts about this woman.
What we don't know, yet, is what it is about her that has caused at least two men and one woman in her orbit to go insane.
Consider:
- The woman, Jill Kelley, is the wife of a surgeon and an "unpaid social liaison" to MacDill Air Force base, home to U.S. Central Command. This "job" seems mainly to include hosting and attending parties and emailing with generals and FBI agents.
- Kelley is originally from Philadelphia and is of Lebanese descent. She has an identical twin sister and three kids. She's 37.
- Paula Broadwell, General Petraeus's mistress, lost her mind and sent anonymous harassing emails to this woman.
- The FBI agent assigned to investigate the case lost his mind and emailed "shirtless photos"to this woman.
- Another top US general, John Allen, lost his mind and sent 20,000-30,000 inappropriate emails to this woman.
- General David Petraeus showed up to a party at this woman's house in a 28-car motorcade. He and Kelley also exchanged "near-daily emails and instant messages" while he was running the war in Afghanistan, according to the AP. (Kelley insists that she and Petraeus at least are just friends and that he's like a grandfather to her kids.)
- In the 10 years that she and her husband have lived in Tampa, one or both have been the subject of at least nine lawsuits "seeking payment of real estate and credit card debts," according to the Tampa Bay Times. Her identical twin sister, Natalie Khawam, a Tampa lawyer who represents whistleblowers, is also in the middle of an expensive lawsuit, and lives with the Kelleys in Tampa, according to a bankruptcy petition she filed this year.
- Jill Kelley has hired the same lawyer that defended John Edwards, and the same crisis PR person who represented Monica Lewinsky, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Vick.
- Kelley insists that she has done nothing wrong and that she's the victim here (did anyone suggest she has done anything wrong?)
We don't know Ms. Kelley ourselves, so we would be grateful to anyone who can enlighten us.
What exactly is it about her that is causing so many people to lose their minds?
SEE ALSO: You Won't Believe What Has Happened In The Petraeus Sex Scandal In The Past 24 Hours
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