State Department Liaison Jill Kelley Has Been Identified as Paula Broadwell’s Supposed ‘Rival’

Amid the worsening fallout from the David Petraeus sex scandal, reporters have been keen to figure out all the lurid details, especially the identity of Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell’s supposed rival for the general’s affection.

Broadwell’s affair with Petraeus was discovered quite by accident during an FBI investigation into just who was sending abusive emails to a Florida woman said to have an ambiguous relationship with Petraeus of her own. That woman has now been identified as Jill Kelley, who, according to an unnamed U.S. military official, serves as the as the State Department’s liaison to the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. Kelley allegedly received a series of abusive emails from Broadwell, prompting the FBI investigation that would eventually expose the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus.

Members of Congress — but especially Rep. Peter King (R., NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee — are insistent that there’s something fishy about Petraeus’ resignation, especially in light of the fact that the CIA Director resigned ahead of a Thursday round of inquiries about what the CIA knew and what the agency told the White House before, during and after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi.