On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Jill Kelley had told one of their reporters she had visited the White House in September. There was no record of her stepping through the doors in the official White House visitor logs, however.
Today, a White House official confirmed the visit to Politico— plus two other visits. One came as recently as Nov. 4, five days before Petraeus resigned, citing an affair with his biographer. Her twin sister, Natalie Khawam, joined her on at least two of these occasions.
And a bizarre story gets even more bizarre, and prompts another slew of questions.
Kelly is an Honorary Consul to South Korea, which is why she said she visited the White House in September. Politico's Donovan Slack reports what the White House says are the reasons for her other visits:
"Once for a tour with her family and children and twice for courtesy meals at the White House ... with her sister and a White House staffer who met the Kelley family while visiting MacDill Air Force Base."