FBI probe into Petraeus under scrutiny The US military might still be the most trusted institution in the country, but the private lives of some of its top brass are beginning to degenerate into an episode of the Real Housewives of Tampa. The whiff of personal scandal surrounding the military deepened on Tuesday when the Pentagon announced the top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, was under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communication" with a woman who does volunteer work at a US military base in Tampa. The woman, Jill Kelley, a 37 year-old mother of three, is the same person whose complaints about receiving threatening emails initiated the Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry that resulted in the surprise resignation last week of David Petraeus, the former general who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In the process, the scandal is focusing intense scrutiny on the FBI, which appears to have ensnared both Gen Petraeus and Gen Allen in an inquiry which initially had nothing to do with either of them. The FBI is coming under attack from all sides; for both holding back from Congress its investigation into the head of the CIA and for delving into private matters that some believe should not be its responsibility. The revelations about the two generals are an uncomfortable reminder of the FBI's deeply controversial past under former director J. Edgar Hoover, when agents collected extensive information on the private lives of politicians. That is not the way that the FBI is supposed to operate - that is J Edgar Hoover's FBI. Political warfare conducting through sniping and that's dangerous," said Tim Weiner, author of a recent history of the FBI. You don't destroy people for political sport because you think you know what's best for this country. Gen Petraeus and Gen Allen both know Ms Kelley from their time at US Central Command, which is based in Tampa and which has responsibility for the war in Afghanistan. Gen Petraeus was the head of Centcom from 2008 to 2010, with Gen Allen his deputy. She is a member of the Bayshore Patriots, an informal group who meet every Friday in Tampa and wave American flags in support of the military, and has been heavily involved in social events surrounding the military. After Ms Kelley complained to an FBI acquaintance about some intimidating emails she had received, the bureau's cybercrime unit took up the case. They traced the emails to Paula Broadwell, a former military officer who has written a biography of Gen Petraeus, and also found evidence of an affair between Gen Petraeus and Ms Broadwell. The FBI is still investigating whether Ms Broadwell gained access to any classified information through her relationship with Gen Petraeus. On Monday evening, agents conducted a four-hour search of her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, taking away a computer and several boxes of documents. One of the many outstanding questions is how the FBI found itself going through the private emails of the director of the CIA. "That would have involved federal prosecutors going to a federal magistrate and seeking a warrant," according to David Laufman, a former federal prosecutor. US officials have said that the FBI was investigating potential breaches of national security. According to a law enforcement officer cited by the Associated Press, Gen Petraeus and Ms Broadwell sometimes communicated to each other by writing drafts that remained unsent in the same private email account, which at first made FBI agents suspect Gen Petraeus" account had been breached. Members of Congress are angry that the FBI did not tell them earlier that it was conducting an investigation into Gen Petraeus which could have had national security implications. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican member of the House intelligence committee, said that by law the FBI should have informed the committee. The FBI will also have to answer questions about the Florida-based agent who decided to tell Eric Cantor, the Republican leader in the House, about the probe into Gen Petraeus, believing there was a conspiracy to keep the case quiet. Mr Cantor informed the FBI of the contact, which took place before the presidential election, but took no further action. Orin Kerr, a Professor of Law at George Washington University, said it was surprising that the FBI informed anyone in government, given that it had decided there was no criminal behaviour by Gen Petraeus. "The stuff that I find most puzzling is why did the FBI notify the CIA," he said. From a criminal law standpoint, that normally would have been the end of it. Additional reporting by Christine Spolar