Posted on 11/13/2012 10:02:56 AM PST by SkyPilot
The Army Reserve officer alleged to have had an affair with former CIA Director and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus could be forced out of the service.
Paula Broadwell, a lieutenant colonel with a top secret security clearance, is under investigation by the FBI for sending anonymous, threatening emails to a Florida woman who is friends with Petraeus. The FBI traced the emails to Broadwells computer, and in so doing uncovered evidence of her affair with Petraeus.
No charges have been filed against Broadwell. However, the emails, as well as public statements she reportedly made about the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, could end her 15-year military career, according to Phil Cave, a retired Navy judge advocate in Washington DC who specializes in military law in private practice.
"If there is an issue with her judgment they can seek to revoke her clearance," Cave said on Monday, noting Broadwell's reported statements that the CIA was holding prisoners in the Benghazi compound that came under attack. The CIA has denied it was holding prisoners and that detail has been reported by no other media outlet.
If officials can determine that Broadwell committed any offenses or unprofessional conduct during a current period of active duty, she could be flagged and held on active duty for prosecution the same as any other active-duty member, Cave said. That would make her subject to all the disciplinary actions available, including letters of reprimand or dismissal. If she is in a Reserve unit and not on orders then any action likely would be limited to administrative punishment, which still could include being dismissed from the service, Cave said.
Cave did not expect prosecutors to pursue adultery charges against Broadwell, a punishable offense in the U.S. military.
"I doubt she'd be prosecuted for the adultery."
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Adultery is illegal if you are in the military. It’s in the UCMJ (Uniformed Code of Military Justice). Adultery is on the books in some states as well but rarely, if ever, prosecuted.
It is illegal (and prosecutable) under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). My post#1 to this thread was deleted (I must have posted a Getty image or something).
To reiterate, in my military career I never saw a female officer charged with and prosecuted for adultery. I am not saying it never happened, but it was very rare. I have seen make officers charged, prosecuted, and jailed because of adultery in the military.
My guess is that politics plays a huge role here. The military is reluctant to prosecute female officers for adultery and be seen as pinning a scarlet letter on their uniforms.
Double standard? Very, very likely.
The valid point here, however, is that Gen (ret) Petraeus will not be so fortunate:
The media is also getting a huge portion of this story wrong. They keep referring to Paula Broadwell as a “former Army officer.”
Agreed. The presstitutes are so brazenly sloppy now. They can’t even get the basic facts right. But they don’t care because it’s all about the marxist propaganda and hollywood style gotcha “journalism” now.
In tailhook about 83 women and 100 men were involved, I would like to see a follow up on the women’s lives and careers.
Scandal used to purge the military, in preparation for new social policies.
“The careers of fourteen admirals and almost 300 naval aviators were scuttled or damaged by Tailhook.”
“The controversy was dramatized in the 1995 TV film She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal. Since the scandal, women have become more accepted as aviators in the US Navy’s aviation community.”
“John Lehman, in 2011, lamented what he considered to be a negative legacy from Tailhook on the navy’s aviation culture. Lehman felt that the scandal had removed the necessary swagger and confidence from the navy’s aviation culture and replaced it with a focus on integrating women and, more recently, homosexuality.”
UCMJ is being held over both Petraeus and Broadwell, imho. If they keep their mouths shut over Benghazi, the UCMJ threat goes away.
Jezebil in the Old Testament was he downfall of one king.
Delilah was the downfall of Samson
A witch was part of the desrruction of King Saul.
David lusted after Bathsheeba and caused for some real problems in his kingship for a time with his eldest child Absalom causing for problems.
There is more to this story than what is being reported. A lot that is breaking was held back until after the election. the more that comes out will implicate Obama through Valerie Jarrett. Just watch Valerie Jarrett and follow her coming and going and you will see the results unfold in matter of days.
If you have gmail.com mail (or similar), you can compose and read the related e-mails entire online, via your browser. Other than appearing on your display screen, those e-mails never leave gmail.com's server.
Terrorists use the "shared draft folder" method to communicate without actually sending an email. All the network traffic is browser traffic.
Supposedly, the harassing emails sent (supposedly) by Broadwell to Kelly were anonymous / anonymized somehow. If Broadwell sent the harassing communications from the same gmail.com account she used to communicate with Petraeus, well, "stupid" comes to mind, unless she intended to associate Petraeus with the harassment, along with herself.
She’ll make more money as a call girl.
Is anybody else bothered by this? There are many talented people who work like dogs for thirty years and never get that far up into the ranks. What did she do to earn it?
Don't answer that.
If Broadwell sent the harassing communications from the same gmail.com account she used to communicate with Petraeus, well, “stupid” comes to mind, unless she intended to associate Petraeus with the harassment, along with herself.
I don’t think she is that stupid. Presumably the FBI tracked her IP addresses and got a court order for all her other email accounts. Or maybe the whole FBI story is a fairy tale. Who knows at this point.
The woman who made the false charges of rape against the Duke Lacrosse students, Crystal Mangum, was guilty of adultery while in the Navy (I think it was). I don’t remember all the details but I think they kicked her out of the service rather than prosecuting her.
Of course it should end her career. The woman is obviously a menace.
Violation of the code of military conduct.
If I have the FBI involvement correct, it makes sense, and was a sort of "favor for a friend," thing. Kelly mentioned the harassing e-mails to a friend who is an FBI agent. This is the agent who sent the shirtless pics to Kelly, but before this harassing e-mail issue surfaced. The FBI has jurisdiction and authority under federal law to investigate and prosecute cyberstalking. No that they spend big chunks of resources on this, but at least it's work they are supposed to be doing.
I figure Broadwell tried to hide her ID (and didn't use the gmail.com account shared with Petraeus to originate the harassing communications), but left enough of a trail that investigators could get back to her as the sender. At that point, they are investigating Broadwell. They already have whatever court orders are necessary to investigate HER for violations of federal law, so sweeping all of her e-mail into view is natural. That's when Petraeus came into view.
Here’s another take on the affair, possibility of prosecution, etc from psychologist Stanton Peele who writes about addiction. Not sure I agree he’s right about Petraeus, but love the Leonard Cohen lyrics at the bottom of the article:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/201211/is-petraeus-strung-out-love
Here’s another take on the affair, possibility of prosecution, etc from psychologist Stanton Peele who writes about addiction. Not sure I agree he’s right about Petraeus, but love the Leonard Cohen lyrics at the bottom of the article:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/201211/is-petraeus-strung-out-love
I suggest to General P. that he use the DADT defense.
Claim that he is LGBTQ, and so is Paula.
So they were just Questioning / Experimenting with their sexuality.
DADT, Right? Problem solved!
Unfortunately, “naked adultery” (an unfortunate shorthand for adultery without other UCMJ violations) is not prosecuted by Air Force (and probably other branches as well) policy. I have never understood the mindset that allows this sort of policy to be effected. It pulls the rug out from under any sort of prosecution for conduct that “offends morality” and it completely ignores that, superior-subordinate or not, it adversely affects good order and discipline.
It’s a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the primary source for charges against military members. If she wasn’t on orders or performing inactive duty training, she’s not subject to the UCMJ.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.