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Federal attorneys meet over Jill Kelley's leak allegationsNov 28, 2012 (Tampa Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida are meeting with the Department of Justice Inspector General's Office this morning to determine who should respond to allegations that information about Jill Kelley was leaked to the media by investigators, according to Robert E. O'Neill, U.S. Attorney for the district. In a letter sent via email to W. Stephen Muldrow, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Kelley's attorney complained about his client's name being leaked to the media as the woman who received "potentially threatening" emails from a woman who had an affair with CIA Director David Petraeus, a friend of Kelley's. "The leaks most certainly had to come, at least in part, from government sources," Kelley's attorney, Abbe D. Lowell wrote in his email, which he shared with the media Tuesday evening. O'Neill told The Tampa Tribune that while Lowell's allegation about leaks is "very general," attorneys from his office are meeting with the Inspector General's office to figure out the best way to respond to Lowell. "He does not say our office leaked it," O'Neill said. "If the leaks did not occur in our office, we have no jurisdiction. If it occurred in Washington, D.C., (the investigation) has to go up there." O'Neill said that if Lowell is alleging that someone in the Middle District of Florida leaked the information, which the Lowell states violates the Privacy Act among other laws, his office would "definitely investigate" the matter. Lowell could not immediately be reached for comment. The emails to Kelley from Paula Broadwell kicked off an investigation that led to Petraeus' resignation as CIA director. Petraeus was hugely popular in Tampa when he was commander of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. The probe also has put a chill on the future of Marine Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, whose nomination to head U.S. forces in Europe was put on hold after investigators found a huge cache of emails between Kelley and Allen. ___ (c)2012 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at www.tampatrib.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |