kelley, how are you doing? >> reporter: jill kelley was well known in social circles around tampa, long before she became fodder for the tabloids of new york. she and her husband threw lavish parties at their ten-bedroom home that sold for $1.5 million in 2004. black tie, top notch catering, a couple about town. >> jill is always smiling, vivacious. >> reporter: aaron publishes tampa bay magazine that features fancy parties and ads for high end merchandise. the kelley's frequented its pages. >> there was always a bevy of people surrounding them. it seemed like no matter where they went, people enjoyed talking to them, being with them. >> reporter: and they were often seen hobnobbing with top military brass, including david petraeus, connections jill kelley made while volunteering to organize social events at macdill air force base. >> she's just a deep down good person. her and her family. >> reporter: jill kelley's brother is rushing to his sister's defense. this after federal authorities announced they're inv

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

found an e-mail trail linking kelley to general allen. and tonight bob orr picks up the story for us from there. bob? >> reporter: good evening, scott, well, the announcement came in the middle of the night on board an airplane carrying secretary of defense leon panetta to australia. pentagon spokesman george little told reporters secretary panetta asked the white house to postpone general allen's appointment as supreme allied commander in europe. >> on sunday the federal bureau of investigation referred to the department of defense a matter involving general john allen, commander of the international security assistance force, or i.s.a.f., in afghanistan. >> reporter: the matter involves 20,000 to 30,000 pages of information the f.b.i. delivered sunday to the pentagon's inspector general. one senior official says the documents include a couple of hundred e-mails between general allen and jill kelley, the same tampa socialite who triggered the petraeus scandal. the e-mails discovered in kelley's files date back to 2010 when allen served a

so you've got -- kelley knows broadwell. broadwell knows kelley. they both know petraeus. and this circle has become the house of cards. >> then there's the fbi agent in tampa who knows kelley. >> okay, so how does he know kelley? where does she get an fbi agent who says i can get a criminal investigation started into these harassing e-mail bs by the fbi. she meets him when she attends a program where they learn how the fbi works. he does a briefing there. she chats him afterwards. when this happens, and this is much later, she contacts him and says i have this problem, can you get me to the right person. he brings her to the cyber squad. >> quick question again on paula broadwell. we've been led to believe that the fbi thinks there's nothing wrong, she had no classified documents. but last night, the fbi spent four hours at her house in north carolina pulling boxes out of her house. they said searching for additional information. does that suggest, do they think this is not over? >> as we reported yesterday, she did have classified documents, but she's also a major in the

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

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

kelley, how are you doing? >> reporter: jill kelley was well known in social circles around tampa long before she became fodder for the tabloids of new york. she and husband scott, a surgeon, threw lavish parties at their ten-bedroom home that sold for $1.5 million in 2004. black ties, top notch catering, a couple about town. >> jill was all smiling, vivacious. >> reporter: aaron fodiman publishes "tampa bay magazine" that features fancy parties and ads for high-end merchandise. the kelleys frequented its pages. >> there was always a bevy of people surrounding them. it would seem like no matter where they went, people enjoyed talking to them, being with them. >> reporter: and they were often seen hobnobbing with top military brass, including general david petraeus, connections jill kelley made while volunteering to organize social events at nearby macdill air force base. >> she is just a deep down good person, her and her family. >> reporter: jill kelley's brother, david khawam, who lives in the philadelphia ar

a further look by the fbi into kelley's e-mails revealed hundreds between kelley and allen, 20,000 to 30,000 pages of communications in all. but a source familiar with the e-mails say they contain no evidence of a sexual relationship, something allen strongly denied. instead, the e-mails are described as friendly, perhaps flirty, but routine, mostly about meetings with ambassadors and dinner parties. in one note kelley tells the general she saw him on tv. he responds, "thanks, dear, you're a sweetheart." many e-mails were from kelley to general allen's wife. the two couples were good friends. >> until someone proves otherwise, i believe that he did nothing inappropriate. >> reporter: today the white house says the president obama still has faith in petraeus and allen. federal agents descended on the home of paula broadwell, gathering more material including a desktop computer, making sure she doesn't hold any classified information. and dave petraeus, once such a public hero, now forced into the shadows. while there is plenty of anger over petraeus' behavior with paula broadwell, the

kelley, how are you doing? >> reporter: jill kelley was well known in social circles around tampa. she and husband scott, a surgeon, threw lavish parties at their ten bedroom home that sold for $1.5 million in 2004. they had top notch catering. a couple about town. >> jill was all the smiling, vivacious. >> reporter: aaron fodoman publishes tampa bay magazine. the kelleys frequented the magazine's pages. >> there was always a bevy of people around them. it would seem like no matter where they went people enjoyed talking to them, being with them. >> reporter: and they were often seen hob knobbing with top military brass, connections jill kelley made while organizing social events at nearby madill air force base. >> she is a deep down good person. >> reporter: she and her brother is rushing to her defense. federal authorities are investigating thousands of e-mails between kelley and marine commander john allen. quam says they are only good friends. >> all i do know is my sister didn't do anything wrong. i know that from talking to her. i know she's a victim and i don't know what else

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, how are you doing? >> reporter: jill kelley was well known in social circles around tampa long before she became fodder for the tabloids of new york. she and husband scott, a surgeon, threw lavish parties at their ten bedroom home that sold for $1.5 million in 2004. black ties, top notch catering, a couple about town. >> jill was always smiling, vivacious. >> reporter: aaron fodiman publishes "tampa bay magazine" that features fancy parties and ads for high-end merchandise. the kelleys frequented its pages. >> there was always a bevy of people surrounding them. it would seem like no matter where they went people enjoyed talking to them, being with them. >> reporter: and they were often seen hobnobbing with top military brass, including general david petraeus, connections jill kelley made while volunteering to organize social events at nearby macdill air force base. >> she is just a deep down good person, her and her family. >> reporter: jill kelley's brother, david quam, who lives in the philadelphia ar

. >>> 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 protege en el

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

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

hi, this is jill kelley. >> reporter: in the 911 phone calls, kelley told the dispatcher she deserved protection from the media outside because of that. >> i am honorary consul general, so i have inviolability. they should not be able to cross my property. i don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well because that's against the law to cross because this is now, like, you know -- >> reporter: kelley lives near mcdill air force base, home of central command and special operations command a place where access is closely guarded. yet she had easy access to the country's most powerful general stationed there. 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, the general's wife, holly. >> there's no question that they're friends and no reason why they wouldn't be friends. >> reporter: despite all of her lavish entertaining, court documents reviewed by abc news, show that jill kelley and her husband have been sued at least nine times and faced foreclosure on their hom

>> well, you have to remember that she, miss kelley, jill kelley, was very active, trying to be very, very active in the social scene there as a volunteer. and she was able to meet a lot of generals. both of these two generals, and got them, in fact, to write these letters to the court, and here's one of them. this was from general petraeus, backing her sister natalie, in this acrimonious court case about her son. we have on many occasions observed natalie and her son, including when we hosted them and the kelley family for christmas dinner this past year. in each case we've seen a very loving relationship. so, you know, jill kelley also had a lot of things, as a volunteer and a honorary consul that she was doing there. in fact, there's a new report that just came out from the news agency from south korea saying she, in fact, was a voluntary honorary consul for south korea, but had only symbolic value, and if there was a problem, if it became problematic, that she could be relieved of that honorary symbolic post. >> ha. and we were hearing that right in that 911 tape, that that's what

ed, what have you learned about jill kelley and what she does? >> reporter: well, it's a confusing picture, as you were alluding to off the top, erin, and trying to piece together jill kelley's role in all of this. we learned from sources today it was a conversation she had with an fbi friend that spurred a lot of these investigations when she was talking about these e-mails she had been receiving and then the fbi investigator took over from there. but jill kelley, we know spent the last six months or so volunteering with the national council for international visitors. and over the course of several years here in the tampa area, hosted various events at her home. we're in front of the house here where we have seen her coming and going throughout the day today. but she has not spoken with reporters. but she had been hosting these events, had been very involved with these high-level dignitaries and officials that had come through the military bases here in the tampa area. >> there were pictures of her today through the window in her house watching

a further look by the fbi into kelley's e-mails revealed hundreds between kelley and general allen. 20,000 to 30,000 pages of communications in all. but a source familiar with the e-mails say they contain no evidence of a sexual relationship. supporting what allen says -- instead, they're describeded as friendly, perhaps flirtatious, but routine. mostly about meetings with ambassadors, dinner parties. in one note, kelley tells the general she saw him on tv. he responds -- thanks, dear, you are a sweetheart. many e-mails from kelley to general allen's wife. the two couples were good friends. >> until anyone proves otherwise, i believe he did nothing inappropriate. >> reporter: and the white house made clear the president still has the faith in general allen. but the petraeus case is an entirely different matter. federal agents descended on the home of his mistress, paula broadwell, gathering more material including a desk top computer. making sure she doesn't hold any classified information. and dave petraeus once such a public hero now forced into the shadows. while there is plenty of ange

. >> how does he know kelley? where did she get an fbi agent that says i can get a criminal investigation started into these harassing e-mails by the federal bureau of investigation. she meets him when she attends the tampa fbi citizens academy, eight-week program community leaders are allowed to sit through briefings to learn how the fbi works. she meets him there, chats him up afterwards. when this happens much later, she contacts him and says i have this problem. can you get me to the right person? he brings her to the cyber squad. >> quick question again on paula broadwell. she had no classified documents but last night the fbi spent four hours at her house in north carolina, pulling boxes out of her house, searching for additional information. does that suggest that they think this is not over? >> as we reported yesterday, she does have classified documents but she is a major in the army reserve, has security clearance. the question is how were those documents obtained and were they properly stored ? she gave

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

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

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

this jill kelley, it's sort of odd these harassing e-mails. why would a private citizen getting harassing e-mails merit the attention of the fbi at all? much less when they looked at it and saw there was no direct threats in it, why did they continue that investigation? >> it seems like from everything i read, i'm just citing this "wall street journal" report i just read, this initial fbi agent who according to the "wall street journal" was barred from further investigation and allegedly sent shirtless pictures to miss kelley, she approached him again according to the "wall street journal" and he's the one who kind of started the ball rolling with the fbi. but again, there's still a lot more to know about her relationship with this fbi agent, also her relationship with david petraeus. what at this point do you not understand about this, that you would like to know? >> look, there are many questions about the relationship of all of these individuals to one another, but i am troubled by the fact, the fbi requires a predicate to open up a prelimi

they said the number of e-mails between general and kelley have been exaggerated. allen's correspondence with kelley came to light and ultimately ened the career of retired general david petraeus. >> we are more this afternoon about the two women involve in this scandal. >> those who know jill kelley and paula broadwell are speaking out about this. the two are now under a very unwanted microscope. >> this is something that will brand her for life. >> reporter: david kwame is the brother of jill kelley. he defends his sister dismissing any suggestion that she is anything more than friends with general petraeus my sister number one is a mother. okay? three kids, extremely dedicated to those kids. number two, she is a wife. she is extremely dedicated to her husband. and he to her. so for her to have an affair with general petraeus is completely ludicrous. >> reporter: kelley seen leaving her tampa home monday describes petraeus as a long time family friend. in a joined statement with her husband scott, she asks for privacy. law enforcement sources say someone was send

an inappropriate relationship between kelley and john allen. he was in line to become the military head of nato. that's now on hold as the investigation continues. allen denies think wrong doing and remains on duty. >> president has great confidence in the military. great confidence in his commanders and will continue to have that confidence. >> a person close to kelley denies any affair. even flirtatious e-mails could cost allen his career if the content is determined to be dishonorable. kelley is a 37-year-old married mother of three. >> she's named an honorary ambassador to coalition forces. john miller shows us it's a diplomatic nicety she may have taken a little too seriously. >> reporter: dr. scott kelley, a prominent tampa surgeon and his wife jill are on all the right vip lists. but according to current and former military officials jill was a force to be rereckoned with. she was 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 n

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