Shirtless FBI Agent Who Brought Down Petraeus Same Agent Who Foiled Millennium Bomber

An odd twist in the investigation of Gen. Petraeus' relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, came when it was revealed that the FBI agent who initiated the investigation after Jill Kelley complained about anonymous harassing e-mails sent to her that later turned out to be sent by Broadwell had been removed from the case for allegedly sending shirtless photos of himself to Kelley. It has now been revealed that the agent in question is Frederick Humphries, who won large praise when he foiled a terrorist attempt to blow up LAX airport during the millennium celebration in late 1999. Humphries is now claiming the photo in question was sent years ago and not during the recent investigation of Gen. Petraeus. Humphries had approached a Republican congressman about the lack of progress in the case when he grew concerned that the FBI was dragging its feet. Media reports had suggested that Humphries became obsessed with Kelley and had sent the shirtless photo of himself to her in the midst of the current investigation. As it turns out, Humphries played no role in the investigation other than to pass along Kelley's complaint about the e-mails to other agents at the department.

Refuting media suggestions that the picture was sent because he had become enamoured with the attractive Florida socialite, the decorated FBI agent said that the photo was sent years ago. 

According to the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association who have spoken to Humphries, the FBI counter terrorism agent only passed on the information Kelley provided him with and played no part in the subsequent investigation.

Lawrence Berger told the New York Times that Humphries, who played a ke role in stopping a terrorist attack aimed at blowing up Los Angeles International Airport in 1999 and his wife had been social friends with Ms. Kelley and her husband prior to the day she referred the matter to him.

'They always socialized and corresponded.' 

Berger denied any suggestion that Humphries sent inappropriate shirtless pictures to Kelley during the course of the investigation which has now engulfed the intelligence community in Washington. 

'That picture was sent years before Kelley contacted him about this, and it was sent as part of a larger context of what I would call social relations in which the families would exchange numerous photos of each other,' said Berger.

Claiming that the picture was sent as a 'joke', Berger said that Humphries was 'posing with a couple of dummies' at the time of the photograph and that it was not sexual in nature.

However, those with knowledge of the investigation that Humphries sparked said that he was given a dressing down by his superiors for trying to push the complaint forward.

In fact, according to the New York Times, Humphries believed that the case was purposefully being stalled for political reasons.

So much so, that in October, Humphries contacted Representative Dave Recihert, a Republican from Washington State, where Humphries had worked before to ask for his help - purposefully going over his bosses heads.

It looks like Humphries is learning the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. It's reprehensible to think that officials within our own government would seek to discredit Humphries in this fashion simply for doing his job. It also suggests that yet another person who believed Kelley was their friend has been burned badly by her. When will the media investigate who Kelley is truly working for here?

UPDATE: A picture of Jill Kelley is now emerging that echoes my earlier worries about whether she could be a spy. Fellow blogger and good friend Debbie Schlussel has her take here that only deepens that concern.