The FBI agent who began the investigation that led David Petraeus to
resign as CIA director said that a shirtless photo he sent to a woman at
the center of the probe was a “joke” sent to many friends, and was not
meant to be sexual.
Frederick Humphries told the Seattle Times in an interview published
Thursday that the photo in the unfolding adultery scandal
that brought
down Petraeus was sent to Tampa, Florida, socialite Jill Kelley in 2010.
Humphries, who has been identified in media reports on the scandal
mainly as the “shirtless” FBI agent, was a “top-notch” operative,
according to a prosecutor who worked with him on the “millennium bomber”
case years ago.
Andrew Hamilton, now a senior deputy prosecutor for King County,
Washington, said Humphries was assigned to the case partly because he
spoke excellent French. Ahmed Ressam, who was convicted of plotting to
bomb the Los Angeles International Airport on New Year’s Eve 1999,
claimed to be from Quebec and spoke French.
“That’s the first time I met him, as a case agent,” Hamilton told
Reuters. “We spent a lot of time together over the next couple years
getting ready for trial, and I couldn’t have asked for more as a case
agent. He was very, very thorough, and very honest. We always thought we
were very lucky to have him.”
Five months ago, Kelley ignited the FBI investigation that led to
Petraeus when she asked Humphries whether the bureau could look into
harassing emails she had been receiving.
The investigation eventually revealed that the emails to Kelley were
sent by Paula Broadwell, an Army reserve officer in military
intelligence and co-author of a biography of Petraeus.
The FBI investigation revealed Broadwell’s affair with Petraeus, who
cited the relationship when he resigned as CIA chief last week. The
probe also ensnared General John Allen, the commander of NATO forces in
Afghanistan, whom agents found had exchanged “flirtatious” emails with
Kelley, law enforcement officials said.
Source : http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/11/16/shirtless-photo-a-joke-says-fbi-agent-frederick-humphries