Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

CENTCOM’s socialite shenanigans make me wonder about SOCOM investigation

Tom Ricks questions the intel on Gen. Petraeus's relationship with Paula Broadwell.

CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus Resigns After Affair
CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus Resigns After Affair
UNSPECIFIED - JULY 13, 2011: In this handout image provided by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), former Commander of International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan; CIA Director Gen. Davis Petraeus (L) shakes hands with biographer Paula Broadwell, co-author of "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus" on July 13, 2011. CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus resigned from his post on November 9, 2012, citing an extra-marital affair with Paula Broadwell. The FBI began an investigation after it was tipped off by Jill Kelley, a long-time friend of the Petraeus family, who received threatening emails from Broadwell. (Photo by ISAF via Getty Images)

Long after the ashes of the scandal have grown cold, the government turned over to the Washington Post some of Jill Kelley’s e-mails to the top brass at Central Command.

Long after the ashes of the scandal have grown cold, the government turned over to the Washington Post some of Jill Kelley’s e-mails to the top brass at Central Command.

Which reminded me of a thought I had as I read James Risen’s recent book, which though not particularly well written has a lot of good stuff in it. At one point, he mentions some contracting scandals at SOCOM that were being investigated. SOCOM, of course, is co-located with CENTCOM at MacDill Air Force Base. This made me wonder if the FBI, probing those, stumbled across General Petraeus’ relationship with Paula Broadwell.

Getty Images/Handout

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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