we hear descriptions of jill kelley. rich socialite, socialite, lavish lifestyle, but you've taken a look at that and the financial records for the kelleys and it doesn't exactly add up, does it? >> reporter: jill kelley, on the surface and people who had seen her at various parties and events, all the different fund raising things she had done, say they never really knew this, but there is as we dug deeper and you look into the kelley situation, there are a number of lawsuits that the kelley family has been involved in. more than $300,000 worth of unpaid credit card bills as well as several properties that are in the process of being foreclosed upon, so a lot of them emerging now, become such a central figure in this case, but very close to jill kelley told us they'd find all of this angle and this investigation of this. >> thank you very much and some in tampa are telling cnn that jill kelley's close relationship with military leaders you know, what really caused that. so, tampa's former mayor says -- were popular part

who is jill kelley? she is the woman who kicked off the original petraeus probe when she complained about hostile e-mails that she was getting from the person who turned out to be petraeus mistress. congressman chaffetz, so much to start with. let's begin with john allen. how much concern is there for you, he said that he has done nothing wrong. how much concern do you have with the fact that this investigation is widening? >> well, look, these are some of our top commanders. you're not a four-star general unless you've -- you have some serious credit to actually get some stuff done. i want to make sure that the president is fully engaged. one of the things that's troubling it me is the idea that, for instance, going back to david petraeus, that he just learned about it last week. i have a hard time believing that. if months and months and months ago this investigation started, he's not the head of fish and wildlife. he's the head of the cia. and if he's been compromised in any way, shape or form, the pr

jill kelley's brother is rushing to his sister's defense. this after federal authorities announced they're investigating thousands of e-mails between kelley and john allen, he says they're only friends. >> what i do know, is that my sister didn't do anything wrong, and i know that from talking to her. and i know she's a victim. and i don't know what else to tell you. >> reporter: the kelleys have asked for privacy and have not returned our calls. kristen welker, nbc news, washington. >>> let's talk about the fallout thus far from all of this. we're joined from washington with chuck todd and retired army colonel and recipient of the medal of honor, jack jacobs. let's talk about generals beginning with petraeus, americans could name a handful of generals with the exception of curtis lemay and your commander in vietnam westmoreland since then. tell me about the impact on the military, any fault the military may have in the system? >> well, we have a large number of general officers, admirals, flag officers, lots and lots of them. as a result, s

how did both general allen and general petraeus know the woman named jill kelley? >>reporter: general allen was the deputy of general petraeus when he was the head in tampa bay, florida in 2010. jill kelley a well-known socialite in tampa bay, married to a, reunient surgeon and she hosted parties for top military brass at central command and would shop with general petraeus' wife holly, their families spent christmas together, and allen exchanged hundreds of e-mails that were 20,000 to 30,000 pages long when printed out with jill kelley and many characterized as being flirtatious but not security-related or dealing with government contracts, her end froms say they were harmless and might have included sweetheart here and there and allen insists he did not have a sexual affair with jill kelley and paula broadwell has hired an attorney. and her father told the newspaper that this is about something else entirely and the truth will come out. there is a lot more that going to come out. you wait-and-see. there is a lot more than meets the eye. she went running this morn

kelley's e-mails in the first place, because he allegedly sent shirtless photos to jill kelley. in plain english, this is a mess. it's complicated, and with hearings and investigations yet to come, this can only get larger from here. we begin our reporting of the story tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. tonight the white house is expressing strong support for general john allen. the top commander in afghanistan, who has strongly denied any wrongdoing. after becoming entangled in the investigation that derailed the career of david petraeus. suddenly, last night, the scandal involving two very different women, jill kelley and petraeus biographer and former mistress, paula broadwell, ensnared not only petraeus, but his successor. john allen who took over for petraeus in afghanistan. and is the president's choice to be commander of nato forces in europe. a nomination temporarily on hold. >> for all that you have done for me and our -- >> reporter: the general is married with a sterling record. on a flight

involvement with jill kelley. but look, erin. the reality here is, defense secretary leon panetta ordered up a full-blown inspector general investigation, and a lot of people around the pentagon say leon panetta wouldn't have done that unless there was something that needed to be looked into. >> and barbara, what's your understanding about general allen and if he's heading back to afghanistan, as we had heard he might be? >> reporter: well, he might, in fact, head back, we're told, in the next couple days to afghanistan, because frankly, there's nothing for him to do here in washington. he is still in command of that war. but that may be very short. the man who is supposed to replace him, his confirmation hearing is expected to go forward. he'll take command probably rather quickly. we don't know exactly when. but the big issue, of course, for the military right now is there is no real designated military head of nato on the books about to take over. america's most important security aligns, allen is on hold, nobo

who is this woman, jill kelley? later, did two of the top ranking army generals interfere in a parent-child relationship? did they use their positions to protect a woman and her custody of her children? of the childre. >>> who is jill kelley, this so-called tampa socialite at the center of the petraeus scandal? one society writer said of her i have s no at a who she is. i'ved handled all the mainly events in this town for a long time now, and i'm a little surprised i don't know her. with me is someone who does know jill kelley, tampa bay magazine editor who joins me from florida. gogood evening, aaron. d evening, judge. can you please tell us what it is that caused jill kelley to be so attracted by the military and the base that she got so involved with the people there? >> here in tampa mac mcdill air force base is probably one of the biggest economic factors that we have, and fortunately some of the most talented military men and women in the world comed through that base. they have have great personalities, they

, the petraeus biographer accused of sending harassing e-mails to jill kelley. according to the journal, allen says the broadwell e-mail was written under the pseudonym kelley patrol. it described kelley as a, quote, seductress, and warned the general about becoming entangled in a relationship with the married socialite. the journal also reports kelley tried this summer to get the fbi to drop the investigation that began with kelley's complaint of harassing e-mails traced back to broadwell. people familiar with the case tell the journal that she became worried about personal information being provided to investigators. meanwhile, the washington post quotes senior law enforcement officials as saying the search conducted at broadwell's home monday night marks a renewed focus on learning just how broadwell gained access to classified files. jill kelley, who has given some impression that she has some kind of state department status that officials say she does not have, called police last weekend after news crews, including nbc, staked out her home and at one point

she is a wife and mother, jill kelley, and abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross set out to learn how she forged such a close relationship with the general. >> reporter: as the home of the u.s. central command and the special operations command, access to the macdill air force base in tampa is closely guarded, but 37-year-old tampa socialite jill kelley, with no official military ties has had easy access over the years to the country's most powerful general stationed there. >> jill is known as a gracious hostess, a vivacious individual. >> reporter: this picture was taken two years ago at a party at the kelley home showing jill's twin sister, natalie, general petraeus, jill's husband scott, jill and the general's wife holly. >> there was no question they were friends and no reason why they wouldn't be friends. >> reporter: but kelley, who spent the day at her home in tampa, and her twin sister are also known by some detractors as name droppers and social climbers, who once appeared on a reality tv cooking program. as jill kelley stared out the window of her home today, a

who exactly is jill kelley. up next, a live report from right outside her home in tampa. >>> this is new video we're just getting in of jill kelley leaving her home in tampa. she's the woman whose complaints about threatening e-mails may have brought the wheels of this scandal to light. cnn's ed will he have and dar a is outside her home. ed, what are you learning? >> reporter: wolf, it is a confusing picture at this point. we're doing the best we can to sift through the various pieces we have been able to put together about jill kelley, the woman that's front and center at the scandal surrounding general petraeus, but we do know jill kelley lived here in tampa for awhile. she's married to a prominent doctor in the area. as one defense department official described her, in a not so flattering way, described her as a bored rich socialite, but she had become heavily involved here with military causes and hosting events. she also had been volunteering in the last six months we're told with a group called the nation

kelley. >>> jill kelley ofreció sus servicios como cónsul hononario de corea del sur. >>> la señora kelley me dijo muy claro que david petraeus la puso en esa situación, por eso tenía acceso a esos servicios. >>> el otro personaje que ha entrado en discordia es esta mujer, que se tomaron al foto y se marcharon sin siquiera hacer la donación, la oficina del senador dice que los kelleys los invitaron a varias fiestas, pero él nunca asistió. >>> el escándalo de los círculos del poder, parece que no tiene límite, de hecho los kelleys tuvieron un tour privado antes de las elecciones, pero ninguna de elas dos se reunió con el presidente barack obama. >>> primero tel aviv y después jerusalén fueron blancos de cohetes de hamas, pero crece la posibilidad de un ataque terrestre de israel a gaza, para eso israel movilizó a decenas de miles de reservista, enrique zimmerman con la información. >>> con columnas de humo a ambos lado de la frontera, hace 3 días, tras 150 cohetes lanzados desde gaza, la fuerza aerea de jerusalen >>> cada vez que suena la sirena, ella dice que se proteg

jill kelley mentioned the visit in an e-mail, saying i was at the white house with my friends in the administration this weekend. the stress was surreal. white house officials say the kelley sisters were invited by a staffer who may have met at the air force base. jill kelley was bipartisan in her outreach, she and her sister dropped in on a fundraiser for marco rubio two years ago. they did not pay, sources said, just arrived and soon left. in an e-mail last march, jill kelley said she was trying to carrying out a threat to deep fry the quran, saying i have an e-mail getting this dealt with. records show paula broadwell also visited the white house complex at least twice for meetings on afghanistan in the executive office. >> i believe that paula broadwell was at one white house meeting that i also attended. but i think and i have always maintained that she has been a serious analyst on this problem. >> reporter: david petraeus, before testifying today, apologized to congress members for his behavior. >> he was very sorry that this incident occurred and that anything that occurred w

>> well, scott, the picture that emerges of jill kelley has two sides. one portrays a wealthy socialite who devotes a lot of her time to the military. the other is that of a woman who seeks out powerful connections and is not afraid to use them. dr. scott kelley, a prominent tampa surgeon, and his wife jill, a socialite, are on all the right v.i.p. lists at the mcdill air force base. but according to current and former military officials, jill was a force to be reckoned with. kelley participating in events to welcome officers from foreign countries and was even given a certificate naming her honorary ambassador to the coalition forces. a state department spokesman went to pains to say the obvious today-- that she was never an official u.s. ambassador. >> she does not work for the state department and has no formal affiliation with the state department. >> reporter: but in 911 calls made to tampa police this week about trespassing reporters, jill kelley seems to indicate that her property is considered diplomatic soil. >> i'm a honorary consul general so

, the petraeus biographer accused of sending harassing e-mails to jill kelley. according to "the journal," allen says the broadwell e-mail was written under the pseudonym kelley patrol. it's describing kelley as a, quote, seductress, and warned the general about becoming entangled in a relationship with the married socialite. "the journal" also reports kelley tried this summer to get the fbi to drop the investigation that began with kelley's complaint of harassing e-mails traced back to broadwell. well, people familiar with the case tell "the journal" that she became worried about personal information being provided to investigators. meanwhile, "the washington post" quotes senior law enforcement officials as saying the search conducted at broadwell's home monday night marks a renewed focus on learning just how broadwell gained access to some classified files. meanwhile, jill kelley, who has given some impression that she has some kind of state department status that officials say she does not have, called police last weekend after news crews, including nbc, stak

>> you said kelly. >> general jill kelley. >> yeah. you need a flowchart to follow this story, no problem. >> general allen for sure. but there is bipartisan support. a lot of people want general petraeus to come back and testify on benghazi, which is supposed to happen on thursday in front of the state intelligence committee. but we've seen democrats, republicans saying he was there, he visited libya, he needs to come and debrief everyone as to what he saw. doesn't look like it will happen. >> you have to wonder you think pressure is going to mount a little bit. both side are saying this. he did a personal review of benghazi after admitting to the affair. he went on the trip. the fact that he had an affair doesn't make testimony less relevant or change the fact that thee was in charge when the ambassador and three others were killed. so you would assume there's a strong ration al to bring him there to testify. for two reasons he didn't want to do it. for one, his deputy who has taken over has all the information he has. two, he fears

so far, the kelley family, jill kelley herself, has not come out with an official statement. obviously, after the development about potentially thousands of documents that link kelley to general allen. 37-year-old jill kelley, known as a volunteer and social liaison for mcdill air force base here in tampa. the pentagon says it's investigating the inappropriate e-mails between kelley and general john allen. there are reports there are as many as 20,000 to 30,000 documents linking the two. general allen served as the deputy commander and for a short time temporary commander at u.s. central command here in tampa from 2010 to tw2012. we know jill kelley had a social relationship and friendship with general petraeus. we don't know what kind of relationship, friendship or social connection that general allen may have had with kelley during his time here. that, of course, is subject of the investigation. right now, though, no word on what those thousands of documents may contain. this may be an indication, though -- jill kelley has hired abe lowell as an attorney, who used to repres

>>shepard: i am talking about jill kelley. >>judge napolitano: unless she has a friend in the f.b.i. the f.b.i. did not admit this is how it started but if it started with a personal friend, a federal agent using the f.b.i. to deliver a favor, he has serious problems and the investigation has serious problems because it started with an improper purpose and, therefore, what is learned in this investigation that was started with an improper purpose is a doubtful validity as evidence to prosecute anyone who may have committed a crime. >>shepard: shirtless photo sender "the friend" jill kelley says i am getting harassing e-mails and shirtless f.b.i. agent takes it to the f.b.i. and the f.b.i. opens an investigation and walls starting falling all over the place in the middle of privacy laws for americans. we will see where it goes. there could be something bad that happened or they could be overstepping. we will find out? >>judge napolitano: we will talk about it for a while. there are a lot of missing pieces to the puzzle. >>shepa

we are taking a closer look at jill kelley. she's the one who received the anonymous e-mail threats that led to the petraeus resignation as cia director. >> we told you earlier how the fbi's been investigating e-mails between kelley and the top u.s. general in afghanistan. erin moriarty has been following jill kelley's story. good morning. >> good morning, charlie. this latest twist is completely unexpected in this case. but it appears jill kelley may have known general allen, who was also stationed in tampa, florida, the same way she knew general petraeus. as a fixture on tampa social circuit, jill kelley is used to being in the spotlight, but not like this. she may now be at the center of a new scandal involving general john allen, top u.s. commander in afghanistan. her picture has been splashed across front pages ever since she was identified as the target of harassing e-mails from paula broadwell, david petraeus's alleged mistress. broadwell apparently saw the 37-year-old as a threat, but according to kelley's brother, his

he knew jill kelley. he would according to the senior official, he wrote to her and said, look, somebody is talking badly about you in e-mail, even threatening you. >> it is not clear what happened after that, but we do know how general allen and retired general david petraeus' troubles are connected. it started with the bombshell friday, david petraeus resigned from his cia post because of an affair with his biographer and fellow west point grad paula broadwell. the man who co-wrote the biography says he was absolutely clueless that there was an affair. >> i'm sure both of them look back on what is now transpiring and realized they both made the biggest mistakes of their lives. and i assume both of them regret it tremendously. but i would bet both of them sort of come roaring back. >> the affair ended at some point broadwell allegedly sent what a source describes as jealous e-mails to kelley, perhaps perceiving kelley as a competitor. now petraeus says he was never involved with her. however, it was kell

broadwell wasn't only e-mailing the other woman in the scandal, jill kelley. good morning, i'm paula faris. we have a couple more layers. >> the other, other woman. get your flow charts out to follow the story, folks. good morning, i am rob nelson. reporters will have a chance to question president obama about the story today. it his first news conference since his re-election. >> as if he doesn't have enough on his plate. right? this half-hour we have reported here about dangers of cheerleading. go team. go, rob. go "world news now." you probably know where we are going with this one. we have the latest example from last night in the nba. pretty horrific to watch. we will tell you exactly -- how this one ended. >> hope she is okay. hope she is okay. >>> we are hearing this morning from paul ryan. he tells our john karl about the shock of last tuesday night and whether president obama now has a mandate to govern in his second term. some interesting comments from the former veep candidate. >> whether or not he is considering 2016. we mentioned the guy the voice

. >>> las autoridades enfocaron la atención, a jill kelley que fue prohibido su acceso a una base en la florida, y a paula broadwell que se le retiró el acceso a informes clasificados, los investigadores analizan documentos y correos electrónicos de las dos mujeres. >>> aunque la trama cada vez es más complicada, paula broadwell parece tranquila y jill kelley no pierde su glamour, ambas mujeres están en un escándalo que implica a las más altas personas del país. >>> el general john allen está haciendo un trabajo excelente y sigue teniendo mi confianza, suspewnder su nominación como comandante de la otan es ua buena decisión . >>> tenemos a un individuo que está al tanto de todo este repliego, el primer repliego del año, y si sacas a este individuo instrumental que ha levantado ya el reporte a las autoridades afganas sería un golpe. >>> la mayor parte de los correos electrónicos que el general john allen intercambió con jill kelley, que reveleara la relación de paula broadwell y david petraeus solo muestran algo de coqueteo, comentarios donde jill kelley le dice, te vi

spending time with the sister and her son, young son, while the kelley family, including jill kelley, was visiting with him over christmas, at a christmas dinner at the petraeus home. so, clearly there was a very close relationship there between the kelleys and the petraeuses. >> how does this woman, jill kelley, get to close to all these generals? >> well, you know, that is one of the big unanswered questions here. she clearly had a lot of access to a lot of high-level people in the tampa area. she lived within a mile of central command and special operations command are located. she made a point of volunteering for events and being very social and friendly with a lot of high-level people in the government, high-level generals in that area. >> michael isikoff, we'll be following this, of course, with your help. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. >>> coming up, who next to go under the republican bus? they're all pointing fingers at each other. wait until you hear what one very prominent republican is calling his party today. and one week later, pat robertson and the religio

what exactly did jill kelley do? we don't know at this point that she did something terribly wrong but all of these reporters are camped out on her lawn. >> she's set off this investigation. there fees not much sim pa thitic about this woman. if you make this bed, you sleep in it. >> exactly. >> conservative pundits say the mainstream media is much more interested and being protective of president obama on the very serious fatal attack that left four americans dead. >> well, howie, there's been endless coverage of the benghazi affair and susan rice performance, what was said, what wasn't said. and it was largely political. it's been pushed by one party over the other. >> in order to turn it into a scandal. >> right. they want to turn a possible secretary of state nominee into this vehicle for all that stands in benghazi when in fact the same senators said nothing and were actually favorably disposed toward condi rice when she was really secretary of state and really relying on intelligence i would have thought, terry

agents have been looking at e- mails at he sent to jill kelley. those e-mails don't look like a threat to national security they seem to be snarky messages with a jealous message. >> reporter: jill kelley has done fundraising for the military. paula broadwell saw her as a romantic rival. paula broadwell sent jill kelley anonymous e-mails from a secret account that her and david petraeus shared. when the fbi started poking around, agents thought someone breached david petraeus' private e-mail account but it turned out they stumbled on a secret communication system they used to communicate. some of the messages sexually explicit. david petraeus would write an e- mail, he wouldn't send it, saved it to his draft folder. paula broadwell would log on and read the e-mail, that way there was never any record of messages being sent. mean time tonight much is being made of this interview paula broadwell gave a few months ago. >> i don't know if you heard this -- >> reporter: she is talking about information surrounding the terrorist attack on the u.s. consu