Jill Kelley Hires Monica Lewinsky's Crisis Manager Amid Gen. John Allen Scandal
Jill Kelley, the Tampa socialite and whistleblower in the former CIA Director David Petraeus' affair scandal, has reportedly hired Monica Lewinsky's crisis manager Judy Smith and disgraced former Senator John Edwards' attorney Abbe Lowell to represent her.
Kelley, who has an unpaid position as a social planner for MacDill Air Force Base, was reportedly told to "stay away" from Petraeus by his mistress Paula Broadwell in a series of emails that were eventually discovered by the FBI. It has since been claimed that Kelley may have played a role as Petraeus' second mistress, although she recently appeared to deny these claims.
"We and our family have been friends with General Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children," Jill and her family said in statement.
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Kelley's decision to hire Smith initially stunned critics, but new reports claim that the married mother of three is now being investigated for her role in a new sex scandal. The incident involves General John R. Allen, a married father of two and commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, according to CBS News.
Kelley and her husband first met Petraeus five years ago through their charitable work for military families. She allegedly complained to the FBI after receiving threatening emails from Broadwell, all of which were reportedly sent from Petraeus' personal Gmail account, prompting federal investigators to check a possible national security breach.
Investigators soon uncovered explicit emails sent between Broadwell, 40, and Petraeus, 60, and have reportedly since found emails of the same nature exchanged between Kelley and Allen, 58.
David Khawam, Kelley's brother, publicly defended his sister recently. He addressed reports of an extramarital affair between Kelley and Allan before asking for privacy.
"I know who my sister is and I know she's a good mother and a good wife. This is completely uncharacteristic of her to have romantic relationships outside of her marriage," Khawam said.
"The primary thing is that she wants her privacy protected. I think she'll probably come out and make a statement at one point," he explained.
Kelley is said to be in debt, with RadarOnline.com claiming that she owes "millions of dollars" to a number of banks. She reportedly also has at least four lawsuits pending against her, which is possibly the reason that she has retained Lowell.
