Free Republic

So now we have it: what appears to be hard, irrefutable evidence of Rupert Murdoch's ultimate and most audacious attempt – thwarted, thankfully, by circumstance – to hijack America's democratic institutions on a scale equal to his success in kidnapping and corrupting the essential democratic institutions of Great Britain through money, influence and wholesale abuse of the privileges of a free press. In the American instance, Murdoch's goal seems to have been nothing less than using his media empire – notably Fox News – to stealthily recruit, bankroll and support the presidential candidacy of General David Petraeus in the 2012...

The Obama administration’s crackdown on leaks to the press has snared a high-profile conviction of an FBI linguist, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to giving classified information to a blogger. The sentence for Shamai Leibowitz is likely to become the longest ever served by a government employee accused of passing national security secrets to a member of the media. His case represents only the third known conviction in U.S. history for a government official or contractor providing classified information to the press. And it reflects a surprising development: President Barack Obama’s Justice Department...

Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts, put their jobs at influential Washington think tanks on hold for almost a year to work for Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Provided desks, e-mail accounts and top-level security clearances in Kabul, they pored through classified intelligence reports, participated in senior-level strategy sessions and probed the assessments of field officers in order to advise Petraeus about how to fight the war differently. Their compensation from the U.S. government for their efforts, which often involved 18-hour workdays, seven days a week and...

A conversation that began in jest and that led to a passing comment at the end of my interview with General David Petraeus has turned into a firestorm of speculation and an attempt to denigrate Fox. Today, I’m bewildered by the reaction of the press to Bob Woodward’s story in the Washington Post. Though Bob is in possession of a secretly recorded tape of my conversation with the general...

WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus reveals that he “screwed up royally” in having an affair with his biographer.

Jill Kelley demands probe into who leaked her name... as it's revealed 15 investigators are working 7 days a week to scrutinize her 'inappropriate' emails with General Allen Tampa socialite who tipped off FBI about Petraeus' affair breaks her silence Attorneys claimed she never tried to exploit her friendship with CIA boss Officials reveal a team is working around the clock to investigate 60-70 emails she exchanged with Allen, leader of U.S. troops in Afghanistan Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239567/Jill-Kelley-demands-investigation-leaked-press-Petraeus-sex-scandal.html

Let us turn from the post-Thanksgiving scenes of inflamed mobs clubbing each other to the ground for a discounted television set to the comparatively placid boulevards of the Middle East. In Cairo, no sooner had Hillary Clinton's plane cleared Egyptian air space then Mohammed Morsi issued one-man constitutional amendments declaring himself and his Muslim Brotherhood buddies free from judicial oversight and announced that his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, would be retried for all the stuff he was acquitted of in the previous trial. Morsi now wields total control over Parliament, the Judiciary, and the military to a degree Mubarak in his...

Gen. David H. Petraeus, long the most famous overachiever in the U.S. Army, is already on his way to a new career distinction: breaking the land speed record for rehabilitation from a scandal. It was only two weeks ago that Petraeus resigned from his job as director of the CIA after it became clear that his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, couldn't be kept under wraps. The dust hasn't settled yet on the chaos kicked up by the FBI's discovery of the affair, touched off by Broadwell's jealousy of another woman who liked men in uniform. Did Petraeus allow...

Morsi now wields total control over Parliament, the Judiciary, and the military to a degree Mubarak in his jail cell can only marvel at. Old CIA wisdom: He may be an SOB but he's our SOB. New post-Arab Spring CIA wisdom: He may be an SOB but at least he's not our SOB.

A federal investigation of how David H. Petraeus’s biographer obtained numerous classified records is focusing on whether the retired general’s staff gave her sensitive documents at his instruction, according to federal officials familiar with the inquiry. Petraeus and Broadwell have told FBI investigators that Petraeus did not provide her with classified information, law enforcement officials said. Attorneys for the two declined to respond to specific questions for this article, as did Broadwell’s spokeswoman, Dee Dee Myers of the Glover Park Group.

I have a great idea whom Barack Obama should nominate as his next CIA director: Gen. David Petraeus. With that simple announcement, Obama could strike a blow for civil liberties and against the silly and destructive sexual Puritanism that has taken down so many public figures. Since Petraeus’ departure both Democrats and Republicans have been mourning the loss of a public servant of extraordinary ability. So let’s mourn no more. The president can say that when news of Petraeus’ affair first broke he reluctantly accepted the general’s resignation. But as it has become clear that the events were wholly of...

Leno: 'Petraeus's Mistress Had More Information About Benghazi Than Susan Rice' By Noel Sheppard Created 11/21/2012 - 10:38am Jay Leno continued his comedic assault on the White House Tuesday. During the opening monologue of NBC's Tonight Show, the host said David Petraeus's mistress Paula Broadwell had more information about Benghazi than United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice (video follows with transcript and commentary): “More problems for General Petraeus," teased Leno. "After searching the home of his mistress Paula Broadwell, the FBI said it found classified material on her personal computer." "In fact," he continued, "agents said she had more information about...

Move over, Kardashian sisters. All we need now is a sex tape. Tampa military groupie Jill Kelley and her twin sister, Natalie Khawam, are the new K sisters of the US Armed Forces — greedy star-lovers raising their 15 minutes to pornographic levels. (snip) Now, it was Natalie’s star turn. With stringy hair hanging into her eyes and enough makeup to give her an uncanny resemblance to the late Michael Jackson, Khawam took the microphone at a DC press conference next to horror lawyer Gloria Allred, a lady with a truffle-sniffing pig’s ability to unearth the bimbo of the moment.

On Hugh Hewitt’s show Tuesday, we had the pleasure of speaking with Vince Flynn, America’s preeminent thriller writer. His latest in the Mitch Rapp series, The Last Man, deals extensively with the relationship in remote parts of the world between the dipomatic corps and CIA operators. And while you would think since they’re isolated and technically on the same side, those relationships are often times strained at best. During Hugh’s interview, the parallel between the book and the 9/11 attack on our consuate, and the CIA annex buiding in Benghazi, came up, and here’s what Flynn had to say: (snip)...

TAMPA -- Before she became enmeshed in a controversy that would take down the director of the CIA, Jill Kelley was considered so valuable to the MacDill Air Force Base community that she was awarded the Joint Chiefs of Staff's second-highest honor to a civilian. The award was approved by then-Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, and presented to Kelley on March 18, 2011, by then-Gen. David Petraeus at a ceremony in Washington. The award recommendation initially was made by Petraeus while he was commander of U.S. Central Command, said Navy Cmdr....

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Jill Kelley's twin, Natalie Khawam, and celebrity attorney Gloria Allred barely mentioned the David Petraeus scandal at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, instead attempting to shift dialogue to Khawam's custody battle and women's rights. "Like many single moms in this country ... Natalie was forced to fight for custody of her child," Allred said after lauding her client's character and educational background. Much to the dismay of reporters onsite posing questions and those tuning in to the event, Khawam spoke only to confirm her love and support for her sister, the Florida socialite at the center of...

A man who says he's a "very close friend" of Jill Kelley, the woman at the center of the scandal that brought down CIA chief David Petraeus, told ABC News that Kelley's portrayal in the media is inaccurate, as are any insinuations that she hoped to profit financially from her close connection to America's spymaster. Don Phillips, a Tampa real estate developer, said in an interview that Kelley is "the best kind of friend" anyone would like to have, including America's top military officials. "Take everything you know and turn it around 180 degrees," said Phillips, who has known Kelley...

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - CBS News has learned that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) cut specific references to "al Qaeda" and "terrorism" from the unclassified talking points given to Amassador Susan Rice on the Benghazi consulate attack - with the agreement of the CIA and FBI. The White House or State Department did not make those changes. (snip) However, an intelligence source tells CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan the links to al Qaeda were deemed too "tenuous" to make public, because there was not strong confidence in the person providing the intelligence. CIA Director David Petraeus,...

A piece of the sordid Petraeus puzzle has lawyered up, hiring famed celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, it has been revealed. Natalie Khawam has reportedly enlisted Allred's help, more than a week after her involvement in the cheating scandal that has led to his downfall of CIA Director David Petraeus. Allred and Khawam are holding a press conference on Tuesday morning. Khawam is the twin sister of Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite who blew the lid off the secret relationship between Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, after Broadwell sent Kelley threatening emails. The twins' brother, David Khawam, confirmed to ABC...