Advertisement

Judge seals most files in abandoned Jill Kelley lawsuit over CIA sex case leaks

 
Published April 16, 2016

WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge has ordered the most sensational court records to remain sealed in the now-abandoned lawsuit over leaks in the investigation that led to the resignation of former CIA director David Petraeus.

The files include transcripts of sworn interviews with senior Obama administration officials about the sex scandal and its fallout.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson late Thursday accepted objections by the Justice Department to keep the files private, saying government lawyers "have identified compelling confidentiality, privacy and law enforcement interests served by maintaining those records under seal that outweigh any need for public access."

The judge added, "No one has asserted any public need for the material." It was unclear whether Jackson intended to revisit her decision in the future, but she ordered that the "records will remain sealed for the time being."

Among the files were notes from confidential FBI interviews with Petraeus weeks before his resignation; his biographer, Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an affair; and Jill Kelley, a friend to Petraeus and his wife. Kelley, of Tampa, had complained to the FBI in June 2012 about harassing emails from an unknown person who turned out to be Broadwell.

The sealed records also include emails between Petraeus and Broadwell about Kelley — describing an incident at dinner with their spouses when Petraeus said he and Kelley had inappropriately touched each other's upper thighs — that Broadwell had forwarded to the FBI. Kelley has said nothing inappropriate happened. The harassing emails from Broadwell, accusing Kelley of "promiscuous and adulterous behavior," started shortly after Petraeus privately mentioned the incident to Broadwell.

In a barb aimed at Kelley, the judge allowed the release of one court filing that she said contained a "general description" of Kelley's new book and her efforts to publicize it.

"The fact that plaintiff was advancing a public relations campaign and orchestrating the publication of her book at the same time that she was seeking discovery from the defendants in what she characterized as a lawsuit to protect her privacy can be a matter of public record," the judge wrote.

Kelley said in a statement Friday her lawsuit was about holding political officials accountable and unsealing the records would prevent it from happening again.