Last night, while discussing the Petraeus scandal on CNN, the network played a 911 call from one of the four major figures in the scandal: Jill Kelley. The call is perfectly bizarre in which Kelley, a Florida socialite, claims “honorary diplomatic” status to get the police to stop people from walking across her lawn. The dispatcher listens patiently and appears to resist the temptation to tell her that he will be sending over some honorary police to protect their honorary diplomatic residence.
Kelley is the woman who went to a friend in the FBI to complain about threatening emails from an anonymous source — emails that led the FBI to Paula Broadwell and ultimately Gen. David Petraeus. She and the agent are a rather odd couple. He sent her shirtless pictures of himself and was eventually removed from involvement in the case. She is described as a “nice, bored, rich socialite” who volunteered with the military as a self-described “social liaison” and cultivated relationships with generals. This included a questionable relationship with Gen. John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, involving a remarkable number of emails described by some sources as a bit raunchy and “like phone sex.”
Just when you thought the scandal could not get more weird, it did. Last night, we heard this 911 call for “diplomatic protection:”
“Thank you and you know, um, I don’t know, but by any chance because I’m an honorary council general, so I have inviolability so I should… they should not be able to (cross) this property, I don’t know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well.
Kelley has been described as invoking her diplomatic status previously. She was given the unpaid title of “honorary ambassador” to CENTCOM, the Department of Defense Central Command. This gives her about the same diplomatic status as the hostess at an International House of Pancakes.
What is strange is that she is protected by the non-honorary title of a citizen of Tampa from trespass. She is allowed to demand the removal of people from her property so long as it is not a public space or a private space with a form of constructive easement.
She might want to stick with the Tampa title because “Honorary ambassador” does not fit neatly into the the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). However, if she wishes to claim to be an honorary diplomat, it would allow Tampa to declare her persona non grata but it is not clear what country she would be expelled to since she is claiming diplomatic immunity in her own country. It might be just easier to get a “No Trespass” sign at Home Depot.
Elaine, 🙂
Darren,
“Maybe there should be a medal: “pour la chasteté” which is granted “for bravery and restraint in the face of theenemy…and the seductress.””
Maybe the general was the seducer.
Malisha,
1. We can’t tell you what we are exploring because that would give openings for inquiry as to things we don’t/won’ want you to know about.
2. WE can’t tell what we are looking for or what we might expect to find for the same reasons in number 1).
If you are unenlightened or confused then that is the meaning.
Careful examination of the protocol as to the formalities of such an IG op would give a snowjob as to openness, etc.
As long as there is an IG going on, mums the word for all CIA. Fully duct-taped.
Blouise,
“Closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.”
Nah, just covering a55 by cleaning up and sanitizing any evidence of wrongdoing, preparing a gaseous report to answer queries late put by Congress of type “what happende” and “what have you done to correct bla bla”.
Not sure but that the “mandarins” had not already marked him for “Exit” soon.
In a way, I cannot help but think of the outlandish titles of nobility royals and their courts would bestow upon court jesters. They only person she is deluding is herself.
I feel bad for the general in a way in that he seems to be an honorable and decent man, but his position and security clearance automaticly means he did the right thing by resigning.
Maybe there should be a medal: “pour la chasteté” which is granted “for bravery and restraint in the face of theenemy…and the seductress.”
Gene,
A Defense Dept lobbyist … holy crap!
lotta,
I’m tellin’ you sister, you need to set up a fake facebook page and join us in scrabble
Blouise, *!!!!!!!* I wonder if Martha Mitchell knew anything about it? Something drove that poor woman to make cryptic phone calls in the middle of the night.
From: Natalie Khawam Got Hefty Loan From Defense Department Lobbyist
“WASHINGTON — Jill Kelley, a central figure in the sex scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, tried to parlay her friendship with the general into a huge commission for helping facilitate a coal project in South Korea, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. Negotiations with Kelley ended after she demanded an $80 million fee for leveraging her connections, the paper said.
That deal may have gone bust. But Kelley’s identical twin sister, Natalie Khawam, profited from her own lobbying connection. Bankruptcy records show that Gerald “Jerry” Harrington, a Rhode Island lobbyist and Democratic fundraiser, loaned Khawam $300,000 that she was unable to pay back.”
“I’d stay off small planes ” (lotta) poor Dorothy Hunt (E Howard’s wife). Did you know she was a former CIA agent?
And Deep Throat turned out to be an FBI agent.
Follow the money.
lotta,
If you want a fun read here’s an article done by Spartacus Educational out of the UK
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhuntD.htm
ap,
Regarding the Purdum article … thanks … your appreciation means a lot to me. 🙂
All I can say is … when you’ve been around the block a few times … you learn a few things. You know what I mean. 😉
Re Elaine’s link at 10:47pm
Well Patraeus was surrounded by a bunch of knowledgeable people at the CIA who could have taught him how to do it without leaving a trail but … he couldn’t ask for help because that might make them suspicious and he had a big secret he was hiding from them.
The link shano provided at 10:47pm is interesting. From that link I took the following:
“He (Obama) said those policies were established at the FBI and the Department of Justice to ensure that there is no political interference in investigations.”
This is probably where Humphries made his big mistake and why he is now characterizing his talking to Cantor as, you know, an outgrowth of someone else overhearing him talk about the matter … otherwise, in talking to Cantor he was violating the policies established by the FBI and DOJ by inviting political interference into the investigation. I would think this is also why Cantor needed to talk to a lawyer before calling Mueller.
But that’s a subplot … a sideshow. Grist for the blog-mills.
The real story is still unfolding and Patraeus’ resignation didn’t put an end to it.
Petraeus didn’t practice craft well
By Eugene Robinson
11/15/12
http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20121115/OPINION/311150032/Petraeus-didn-t-practice-craft-well
Excerpt:
One mystery is why the nation’s chief spy didn’t practice better tradecraft in seeking to protect his little secret.
Petraeus carried on a steamy email correspondence with Broadwell through a private Gmail account that he opened using a pseudonym.
It’s as if he didn’t know anything about IP addresses or location data. Presumably, as CIA chief, Petraeus must have read intercepted emails sent by terrorists who tried to disguise themselves by using false names. Why did no light bulb appear above his head, no thought bubble saying, “Gee, even if I don’t use my real name, somebody might figure out it’s me”?
In his first public comments since retired Army Gen. David Petraeus resigned Friday from the CIA over an affair with his biographer, Obama said he’d seen no evidence that national security had been compromised.
“I have no evidence at this point from what I’ve seen that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security,” Obama told a White House news conference. “Obviously, there’s an ongoing investigation. I don’t want to comment on the specifics of the investigation.”
In response to questions, Obama said he was not informed about the FBI investigation earlier as a matter of government policy, not any desire to keep the news bottled up until after the election.
“The FBI has its own protocols in terms of how they proceed,” Obama said. “One of the challenges here is that we’re not supposed to meddle in, you know, criminal investigations, and that’s been our practice.”
He said those policies were established at the FBI and the Department of Justice to ensure that there is no political interference in investigations.
“That’s traditionally been how we view things in part because people are innocent until proven guilty and we want to make sure that we don’t pre-judge these kinds of situations,” he said. “My expectation is that they followed protocols that they already established.”
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/14/174674/fbi-wont-provide-regulation-that.html#storylink=omni_popular#storylink=cpy
If the speculation here is correct that something more sinister lurks in the shadows I’d stay off small planes if I was one of the principles. Anybody want to start an office pool on who ‘commits suicide’ first. Just play’n it out is all… since there are probably movie/TV scripts in the works.
MacDill Air Force Base News
Jill Kelley case prompts review of ‘Friends of MacDill’
http://www2.tbo.com/news/macdill-air-force-base-news/2012/nov/15/1/jill-kelley-case-prompts-review-of-friends-of-macd-ar-565928/
TAMPA —
“The commander of MacDill Air Force Base has ordered a review of everyone admitted to the “Friends of MacDill” program, the Pentagon says, in the wake of the scandal that traces back to one of the program’s members.
There are about 800 people on the list, including Jill Kelley, the Tampa socialite who helped set in motion the scandal that prompted the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus and sparked an investigation into Marine Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The review was ordered by MacDill commander Col. Scott DeThomas.
“The base commander is reviewing the list of names,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Miller, a Pentagon spokesman. “It’s the only prudent thing to do under these circumstances.”
In 2010, former base commander Col. Lenny Richoux initiated the “Friends of MacDill” program, which allowed unescorted access onto the base for community leaders who passed a criminal background check.
Participants are nominated or nominate themselves and are selected at the discretion of the base commander.
Earlier this week, Kelley’s access under the program was temporarily suspended because of a Department of Defense Inspector General Office investigation into what the Pentagon called a potentially inappropriate email exchange involving Allen. Military sources said he corresponded with Kelley during a two-year period.
The base does an annual review of the list anyway, Miller said. But this situation sparked a more immediate review, he said.
MacDill Air Force Base officials declined comment.”
Another article about e-mail issues:
November 14, 2012 | By Hanni Fakhoury and Kurt Opsahl and Rainey Reitman
When Will our Email Betray Us? An Email Privacy Primer in Light of the Petraeus Saga
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-betray-us-email-privacy-primer-light-petraeus-saga
(Insightful analysis of the Purdum article, Blouise.)
Malisha,
1. A show investigation.
2. A witch hunt.
That whole bit was using euphemistic and qualifying language that you are wise to be suspicious about.