WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department used a secret subpoena to obtain two months of phone records for Associated Press reporters and editors without notifying the news organization, a senior department official tells NBC News, saying the step was necessary to avoid "a substantial threat to the integrity" of an ongoing leak investigation.

The seizure of the phone records, disclosed earlier Monday by AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt, is the latest move in a series of high profile and controversial investigations of leaks of classified information by the Justice Department. In a letter of protest to Attorney General Eric Holder, Pruitt said obtaining more than two months of AP phone records on 20 separate telephone lines without prior notice was a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into news-gathering operations. 

It also drew a swift rebuke Monday from members of Congress and freedom of the press watchdogs, one of whom called the move "Nixonian."

Ronald C. Machen, Jr., the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., revealed in a letter to the AP on Friday that federal prosecutors obtained the records. The letter did not give a reason for obtaining the records, but Machen is conducting an investigation into the leak of classified information about a foiled terror plot in Yemen last year. An AP story last spring reported details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al Qaeda plot to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States.

---

In his letter to Holder, Pruitt said the seized phone records were from early 2012 and included phone lines for AP bureaus in New York, Washington DC, Hartford, Connecticut and the AP line at the House of Representatives. He said the records seized also included those from the home phones and cell phones of individual journalists.

"We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP's constitutional rights to gather and report the news," Pruitt said.

Holder last June appointed Machen to conduct the investigation of the Yemen terror plot leak and Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney in Maryland, to oversee a separate probe into the leak of U.S. government efforts to use the Stuxnet computer virus to thwart the Iranian nuclear program. In later Senate testimony, Holder said that he and FBI director Robert Mueller had both been interviewed by FBI agents as part of the investigations because they had prior knowledge of the information that was leaked. (Under Justice regulations, any subpoena for news media phone records requires the "express authorization" of the attorney general. But a Justice Department spokeswoman did not respond Monday night when asked whether the attorney general had recused himself in the investigation.)

As another sign of the sensitivity of the case, CIA Director John Brennan disclosed earlier this year that he also had been questioned by FBI agents as part of the Yemen probe, but said he was later notified that he was not a subject of the investigation.

Bill Miller, spokesman for Machen, said in an email that the subpoena for the records was done by the book.

"Consistent with DOJ regulations, the department provided notification to the Associated Press of the receipt of toll records in a letter dated May 10, 2013," He noted that Justice regulations "do not require notification to the media prior to the issuance of legal process to obtain toll records."

In a separate email, Miller wrote: "We take seriously our obligations to follow all applicable laws, federal regulations, and Department of Justice policies when issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organizations. Those regulations require us to make every reasonable effort to obtain information through alternative means before even considering a subpoena for the phone records of a member of the media. We must notify the media organization in advance unless doing so would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation.

"Because we value the freedom of the press, we are always careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right balance between the public interest in the free flow of information and the public interest in the fair and effective administration of our criminal laws.”

The regulations cited by Miller state that subpoenas for the news media in criminal cases should be done only when there are “reasonable grounds to believe … that a crime has occurred” and that the records sought are “essential to a successful investigation.” They also state that subpoenas should, wherever possible, “be directed at material information regarding a limited subject matter and “should cover a reasonably limited period of time and … avoid requiring production of a large volume of unpublished material.”

Since President Barack Obama took office, the Justice Department has aggressively pursued leak investigation and brought more criminal prosecutions – six in five years – than any previous administration. Those cases, which also have been sharply criticized by press groups, have also targeted reporters’ phone records: James Risen, a national security reporter for the New York Times, had his phone, credit card and bank records subpoenaed as part of a Justice Department prosecution of a former CIA officer accused of leaking classified information on Iran’s nuclear program to him.

But critics say the extensive nature of the subpoena for the AP phone records goes far beyond what was seen in earlier cases.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, vowed to investigate.

"This is obviously disturbing," he said. Coming in the wake of other disclosures about the administration’s response to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the IRS’s targeting of conservative nonprofit groups, he said it showed "top Obama administration officials increasingly see themselves as above the law and emboldened by the belief that they don't have to answer to anyone."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wanted to know more about the justification for the secret subpoena.

"The burden is always on the government when they go after private information -- especially information regarding the press or its confidential sources,” he said. “… I am concerned that the government may not have met that burden. I am very troubled by these allegations and want to hear the government's explanation."

Anti-secrecy watchdogs also criticized the move.

"I've never heard of a dragnet collection effort against a media organization like this," said Stephen Aftergood, who tracks secrecy issues for the Federation of American Scientists. "This was not a targeted monitoring of an individual reporter. It's a sweeping collection of an entire bureau's communications."

"The Justice Department’s seizure of the Associated Press’ phone records is Nixonian," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a group that advocates on behalf of whistleblowers. "The American public deserves a full accounting of why and how this could happen."

NBC News' Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell contributed to this report.

More from Open Channel:

• IRS watchdog: Senior official knew in 2011 that Tea Party groups were targeted
• Unaware of Tsarnaev warnings, Boston counterterror unit tracked protesters
• Long before he was charged, Ariel Castro was accuser in sexual assault case

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook 

 

This story was originally published on Mon May 13, 2013 5:31 PM EDT

The Defense Department’s inspector general has found that allegations that Gen. John Allen engaged in inappropriate behavior in emails he exchanged with Tampa, Fla., socialite Jill Kelley were unsubstantiated. 

"The IG cleared him," a defense official told NBC News, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

Allen, the current commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, has been nominated to be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, but that promotion was put on hold when the IG investigation began. The defense official stressed that no decision has been made yet on whether his nomination will go forward again. 

---

A statement Wednesday by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan on behalf of Allen said he had been informed that investigators  “the allegations against him were unsubstantiated and … that he did not violate the requirement of exemplary conduct or the prohibition against conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. “

“He's obviously pleased by the outcome,” it said. “But more critically, he is grateful for the support he received throughout this process from his chain of command, friends, family and colleagues.  He remains focused, as he has always been, on leading the brave men and women of the ISAF team."

Allen’s nomination was jeopardized  in mid-November when it was revealed that he had exchanged emails with Kelley that some Pentagon officials at the time characterized as “inappropriate” and “flirtatious.” 

Allen had met Kelley when he was commander of MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa, where she served as a volunteer “social liaison.” 

She inadvertently drew him into the scandal that led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus by complaining to an FBI agent with whom she was acquainted about anonymous emails referencing Petraeus. Among those emails was one that Allen had forwarded to her in the belief that she had sent it to him as a joke, officials told NBC News at the time. 

FBI agents eventually traced the allegedly threatening emails to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer. That investigation also led to evidence of an extramarital affair between Petraeus and Broadwell, prompting his resignation on Nov. 7. Days later, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the investigation into Allen’s relationship with Kelley. 

Jill Kelley speaks out: 'I knew I was being stalked'

The inspector general’s investigation does not determine guilt or innocence. Rather, it decides whether an allegation is substantiated or not. Even if the finding is that the allegation is unsubstantiated, the IG can still make a recommendation that can harm an officer’s career. 

Jim Miklaszewski is NBC News' Chief Pentagon Correspondent; Courtney Kube is an NBC News producer at the Pentagon. Mike Brunker, NBC News investigations editor, contributed to this report.

More from Open Channel:

• Dermatologists blast tanning industry campaign to play down skin cancer fears
• Air Force searches out porn, other 'offensive' materials on its bases
• Canadian cleric leaps into center of Pakistan's political maelstrom

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook 

Criminal gangs in parts of New York City are getting increasingly savvy at carrying out violent crimes and eluding police detection, thanks to a practice of hiding and sharing so-called "community guns," police and prosecutors say.

“They don’t want to keep the weapons on them but want to have access to them,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. “It poses challenges in terms of prosecution, to the police on the street. It all puts the weapon in the hands of a larger number of people."

---

Community guns are often used by gang members to enforce drug territory. But several recent shootings have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians, including children.  Four-year-old Lloyd Morgan was hit by a stray bullet last summer while on a Harlem basketball court with his mom; Zurana Horton, a pregnant mother, was killed by a bullet fired from a community gun last summer. 

Law enforcement surveillance video obtained by the News 4 I-Team shows suspected gang members sharing weapons and hiding them in public places like building mailboxes, garbage cans or under the wheel of a car. 

”They have unique ways of hiding these guns," said Inspector Kevin Catalina. "Every gang member has access.  It can be in a garbage can, under a tree. They go get it, bring it to a location and then carry out the shootings.”

Catalina said gang intelligence units have made more than two dozen arrests and seized more than a dozen guns this past year.  As a result, crime is down – but the community gun problem continues.

“We have a couple of gangs that pose a particular problem for us over here,” said Catalina. He pointed to one crew that uses a .45-caliber weapon to shoot rivals. In one recent shooting, a 10-year-old child was caught in the crossfire in Claremont Park near Webster Avenue, though the child was able to escape unharmed.

Police said gang members know they are under increased surveillance so they take the added measures to try to hide their weapons. Some use children as young as 12 years old to carry weapons for them because they believe police are less likely to stop and question a teen or child. 

“This is the way they operate. It is very rare that one individual will have access to a gun full time,” Catalina said.

Ballistic tests can often match a community gun to a shooting, but finding the shooter can be more difficult, according to Sgt. Richard Zacarese. 

Also on NBCNewYork.com: Subway push victim mourned after suspect charged

“Often you’ll recover the gun, and if that gun was used in numerous shootings, the person you caught with it isn’t necessarily the person who used the gun, since it was passed to hand to hand to hand,” said Zacarese.   

Vance highlighted the recent case of Afrika Owes, a 17-year-old prep student who admitted she stored and carried weapons for a violent Harlem drug gang. In prison recordings of phone conversations she had with a gang leader on Rikers Island, she boasted of carrying three guns for the gangs, including a 9 mm. 

Police and prosecutors are now using conspiracy laws to bring cases against suspected gang members who are caught with or are known to have used community guns.

“We are always confronted with a changing crime dynamic,” Vance said. “I think the community gun circumstance is an adaptation to effective prosecution and police action. It’s designed to try to insulate themselves from being caught with weapons on their person."

More from Open Channel:

 

New device lets crooks crack many hotel locks

Cuban official accuses US of 'lying' about health of jailed American contractor 

 

 Foreign tech companies pitched real-time spy gear to Iran 

 

Behind high court racial cases, a little-known conservative recruiter

Toll authority quick to seek payment, not so good at refunding overpayments

American held in Cuba wants US to sign 'non-belligerency pact' to pave release

Cuba pushes swap: its spies jailed in US for  American jailed in Havana

Livestock falling ill in fracking regions | Industry insider offers rebuttal

Tobacco industry used trade pacts to try to snuff out anti-smoking laws

 

 

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

What began with David Petraeus’ surprise resignation as CIA director on Friday resulting from an extramarital affair has now spiraled into a complicated story of infidelity, intrigue and politics.

Petraeus’ admission of an extramarital affair quickly led to his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and an examination of her relationship with the decorated war hero. The length of the FBI’s investigation of “menacing” emails sent to Petraeus’ family friend Jill Kelley, and the timing of the announcement of his departure from the Obama administration fueled conspiracy theories. Then Gen. John Allen, Petraeus’ successor as military commander in Afghanistan, was embroiled in the scandal, accused by U.S. officials of sending “inappropriate” emails to Kelley.

To help you keep the facts straight, NBC News has compiled this timeline, based on reporting by NBC News and other published accounts:

---

Spring 2006 -- Paula Broadwell meets Gen. David Petraeus, when she introduces herself after he gave a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School, where Broadwell was working on a master's degree, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

October 2008 -- Petraeus takes over as head of U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base. While serving there, he reportedly meets Jill Kelley and her husband, Dr. Scott Kelley. She is described in various accounts as a volunteer “social liaison” between the community and the base.

2008 -- Broadwell begins her doctoral dissertation, "a case study of General Petraeus’ leadership," according to Rolling Stone magazine.  

June 2009 -- Broadwell and her husband, Scott, purchase a home in Charlotte, N.C., the Charlotte Observer reports. 

June 2010 -- Petraeus is named as replacement for Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan after the latter makes impolitic remarks to a Rolling Stone reporter. Broadwell decides to turn her dissertation into a book.  

July 2010-July 2011 – According to an online biography of Broadwell that was taken down after Petraeus’ resignation, she made multiple trips to Afghanistan during this period, where she “embedded with the general, his headquarters staff and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting across Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they are brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war.”  

Aug. 31, 2011 -- Petraeus retires from the U.S. Army, departs Afghanistan.

Sept. 6, 2011 -- Petraeus takes over as director of the CIA.

Early November 2011 – According to former Petraeus spokesman Steve Boylan, who had spoken to his former boss after his resignation, Petraeus' affair with  Broadwell began around this time, approximately two months after he took the CIA job.  

January 2012 – “All In, The Education of General David Petraeus,” by Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb is published by Penguin Press.

May 2012 – “Menacing” emails – five to 10 of them, according to the Wall Street Journal -- began arriving in Jill Kelley's inbox, NBC’s Michael Isikoff and Pete Williams report. 

Emails on 'comings and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

June 2012 – The FBI investigation begins. A source close to Kelley tells Isikoff that she took the emails, which she viewed as harassing or menacing, to the FBI. The source said the anonymous emails didn’t mention Petraeus by name, but subsequent emails – sent from multiple alias accounts -- contained references to the "comings and goings" of high-level military officials -- including events that were not on any public schedule. This raised the question as to whether somebody had access to sensitive -- and classified -- information about the CIA director. 

July 2012 – Approximate end of the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus, according to former Petraeus spokesman Steve Boylan, who  tells NBC’s Kristen Welker in early November that it ended “about four months ago.” 

Late  summer -- Attorney General Eric Holder is told that agents have discovered an email link between Petraeus and Broadwell, which included exchange of “explicit details of a sexual nature,” according to the Wall Street Journal. 

September – FBI agents interview Paula Broadwell for first time, NBC’s Pete Williams reports.

Oct. 27  -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speaks to an FBI agent who had worked on the Petraeus investigation, according to Cantor spokesman Doug Heye. The agent-- who had originally contacted Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington -- raised concerns that "sensitive information" relating to Petraeus may have been "compromised," Heye said. The timing of the tip to Reichert is not clear.

Week of Oct. 29 – FBI agents interview Petraeus and Broadwell (for a second time), according to NBC’s Michael Isikoff.

Approximately Oct. 30-31 – Somewhere around this time frame, Petraeus traveled to Tripoli to conduct his own personal inquiry into Benghazi, according to author Bob Woodward, appearing on "Meet the Press" on Nov. 11. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell confirmed that Petraeus had recently traveled to Libya.

Oct. 31 – After conferring with his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, and Richard Cullen, a former attorney general of Virginia, Cantor had Stombres call the FBI chief of staff to relay the information he had received from the FBI agent, NBC News has reported.

Nov. 1 -- Cantor aide Steve Stombres is told by the FBI that it cannot confirm or deny an investigation, but the bureau official assured the leader's office it was acting to protect national security.

Nov. 2 – The FBI concludes its investigation, according to NBC News’ Michael Isikoff, citing senior U.S. law enforcement official; the  last FBI interviews with both Broadwell and Petraeus also took place this day, NBC’s  Pete Williams reports, citing federal officials.

Nov. 6 – Justice Department informs Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Nov. 7 – Clapper informs the White House.

Nov. 8 –  Petraeus calls White House Deputy Chief of Staff Thomas Donilon and asks to see the president, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports. The White House tells Obama of the FBI investigation of Petraeus and his admission of an extramarital affair.

Nov. 9 – Obama accepts Petraeus’ resignation; Senate and House leaders first learn of it from media calls. They then speak to Petraeus, but don’t hear directly from the president, Mitchell reported.

Nov. 11 – Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, issue statement: "We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children."

Afghanistan military commander Gen. John Allen investigated for 'inappropriate' emails

Nov. 12 – In a surprise statement during a trip to Australia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announces that U.S. General John Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as military commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations he exchanged “inappropriate” emails with Kelley, the woman who triggered the investigation of Petraeus. Meanwhile, FBI agents carry out a four-hour “consensual search” of Broadwell’s home in Charlotte, N.C., leaving with eight to 10 cardboard boxes.

More from Open Channel:

 

Emails on 'comings and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials alarmed FBI

Petraeus probe began as cyber-harassment case, ended 4 days before election

Lost to history: Missing war records block benefits for Iraq, Afghan vets

See which industries funneled the most money into presidential race

Pulpit politics: Pastors endorse candidates, thumb noses at IRS

Election's enigmatic biggest corporate donor has contributed $5.3 million

Delphi retirees say Obama administration betrayed them

Wind, flames, Our Fathers: the inside story of Breezy Point's terrible night

Ex-Penn State President Graham Spanier charged in child sex abuse scandal

 

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

New in this version: FBI search Paula Broadwell's home Monday night; officials say the FBI agent who worked with Jill Kelley, the Tampa, Fla. woman who received anonymous emails from Broadwell, was dismissed from case because he became obsessed with Kelley.

Updated at 11:36 p.m. ET: “Menacing” anonymous emails that launched the FBI investigation which ultimately brought down CIA Director David Petraeus contained references to the “comings and goings” of high-level U.S. military officials, raising concerns that someone had improperly gained access to sensitive and classified information, a source close to the recipient tells NBC News.

The first email sent anonymously to Jill Kelley, the Tampa, Fla., woman who reported the threatening emails to the FBI, in May referred to Kelley socializing with other generals in the Tampa area and suggested it was inappropriate and should stop, according to the source close to Kelley, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity.

After Kelley alerted the FBI, agents began pursuing it as a possible case of cyber harassment or stalking. "The thought was she was being followed," the source said.

---

The anonymous emails continued -- sent from multiple alias accounts -- and some later ones in the sequence contained references to Petraeus, though not by name, the source said.

What most alarmed Kelley and the FBI, the source said, were references to "the comings and goings" of high-level generals from the U.S. Central Command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and the U.S. Southern Command, as well as Petraeus -- including events that were not on any public schedule. This raised the question as to whether somebody had access to sensitive -- and classified -- information.

Moreover, the sender of the emails had "covered her tracks pretty well," the source said.

Multiple government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News that FBI agents traced the emails to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ biographer. In the course of the investigation, the agents also discovered emails between Petraeus and Broadwell that were indicative of an extramarital affair, they said.

The source close to Kelley said that she had never met Broadwell and had no idea who she was. The source also stressed that Kelley has been active in multiple social events in the Tampa area and is purely a social friend of the Petraeus family.

Meanwhile, it has come to light that the FBI agent contacted by Kelley about the emails she received from Broadwell was removed from the case. According to officials, the agent’s supervisors said he had become infatuated with Kelley and had sent her shirtless photos of himself.

The FBI remains involved in the case, however. On Monday evening, plain-clothed FBI agents arrived at Broadwell’s home in Dilworth, N.C. around 9 p.m. Monday night for what a senior law enforcement official called a “consensual search.” The official said the search is not a raid and “not a game changer.”

Rather, the official said that the FBI is being thorough as it finishes its investigation into Broadwell and whether she violated cyber-stalking or cyber-bullying laws.

The investigation of Petraeus has concluded. Law enforcement sources tell NBC News that Petraeus is not under investigation and that they don't expect their inquiry will result in criminal charges.

The search of Broadwell's home is not expected to yield information that would lead to charges against her, the official said. At the house, agents did not respond when reporters asked for their affiliation, although WCNC in Charlotte, N.C. confirmed they were with the FBI.

NBC News has been unable to reach Broadwell for comment.

The new information offers clues about how federal investigators could connect a handful of anonymous emails to Broadwell, a trained intelligence officer who spent years working with some of the most secretive agencies in the world.

Federal officials who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity on Monday said it took agents a while to figure out the source. They did that by finding out where the messages were sent from -- which cities, which Wi-Fi locations in hotels. That gave them names, which they then checked against guest lists from other cities and hotels, looking for common names. 

That led them to Broadwell, they said, noting that the pattern coincided with her travel to promote her book.

Finding the location from which the emails emanated would not have been difficult, experts say.

Some webmail services, including Yahoo and Microsoft's Outlook.com, send user IP addresses across the Web with every note, according to privacy researcher Chris Soghoian, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union. Those IP addresses can be used to track the physical location of a computer user connected to the Internet, sometimes without the help of an Internet service provider.

Broadwell had used a Yahoo account publicly in the past. If she used a new, fake Yahoo account for some of those anonymous emails, agents would have had an easy time gathering a list of IP addresses from the threatening emails Kelley provided to them. And even if she had used Gmail or another service that doesn't "leak" IP information, an FBI agent could have obtained such information by calling Google with a subpoena, the experts said.

Once there was evidence to link Broadwell to the emails, agents would have had little trouble proving probable cause and getting a warrant under the provisions of the Stored Communications Act, which would allow them to access any emails sent or received during the prior 180 days. Agents could also have sought a wiretap order and monitored Broadwell’s email in real time, though wiretaps are more challenging to obtain, and there is no indication that agents took that step.

Soghoian said the successful cyberhunt for Broadwell shows anonymity is much harder to preserve than many Internet users realize.

"We see this again and again. We saw it with the Anonymous (hacker) arrests last year.  The lesson for the rest of us here us you have to go through a lot of steps to maintain anonymity, and you only have to screw up once," said Soghoian. "The FBI was able to pierce the veil of anonymity even for someone who's been trained. The government only has to get one clue. You have to be successful 100 percent of the time (when trying to hide)."

NBC News Justice correspondent Pete Williams contributed to this report.

More from Open Channel:

 

 

 

 

Petraeus probe began as cyber-harassment case, ended 4 days before election

Lost to history: Missing war records block benefits for Iraq, Afghan vets

See which industries funneled the most money into presidential race

Pulpit politics: Pastors endorse candidates, thumb noses at IRS

Election's enigmatic biggest corporate donor has contributed $5.3 million

Delphi retirees say Obama administration betrayed them

Wind, flames, Our Fathers: the inside story of Breezy Point's terrible night

Ex-Penn State President Graham Spanier charged in child sex abuse scandal

 

 

 

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

After investigating a potential case of "cyber-harassment" for several months, the FBI wrapped up its case after interviewing Paula Broadwell -- the biographer of former CIA director David Petraeus -- on Friday, Nov. 2, four days before the presidential election, a senior U.S. law enforcement official told NBC News.

It was the second time that FBI agents had questioned Broadwell in the probe and during both interviews she acknowledged having had an affair with Petraeus, the official said. Petraeus himself had been questioned a few days earlier and also acknowledged the affair, the first official said.

The dual interviews the week of Oct. 29 -- among the last to be conducted by the FBI in the case -- allowed the FBI to formally conclude there was no basis for criminal charges in the matter. This explains why the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wasn't told about the probe until the following Tuesday, Nov. 6, election day, the official said.

---

The official offered new details about the FBI investigation -- and a more precise timeline of key events-- in order to rebut suggestions that senior law enforcement officials held back key information about the Petraeus matter until after the election.

The FBI and Justice Department's decisions on the case were not governed by the political calendar, the official asserted. Nor, the official said, were they influenced by a phone call from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's office to the FBI on Oct. 31 asserting that it had heard from a FBI whistleblower who raised concerns that the Petraeus matter was being covered up or not being taken seriously.

Lawmakers question timing of Petraeus resignation

"I was contacted by an FBI employee concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised and made certain (FBI Director Robert) Mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security,” Cantor said in a statement.

According to reporting by NBC’s chief justice correspondent Pete Williams, a senior law enforcement official said a call to a congressional staffer came from an agent who was initially involved in the investigation but who was later removed from the case because he knew an associate of one of the people being investigated.  The agent knew someone on the Hill and called that person, a Republican staffer, according to the official. But that phone call had no effect on either the course of the investigation, the involvement of Mueller -- who was following it closely long before Cantor called him -- or the decision to notify Clapper, the official says.

"This had nothing to do with the election," the official said. Moreover the official added, Cantor's office was told that the case was being actively investigated by the FBI when it raised the matter on Oct. 31, and so it would have been wrong for the FBI or Justice Department to inform higher level officials in the administration about the probe earlier -- because they were unsure at that point what they were dealing with. In the end, according to multiple officials, investigators determined there was no criminal wrongdoing.

According to the senior official, the investigation began several months ago when a woman reported to the FBI she had received anonymous-- and harassing -- emails from a person she didn't know. Multiple government officials tell NBC News that the woman was Jill Kelley, who lives in Tampa, Florida. Kelley and her husband, officials say, are close friends of the Petraeus family. Kelley was a volunteer social liaison to the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

The FBI viewed the matter as a potential case of "cyber-harassment" and it was handled "regionally" with federal prosecutors working with the FBI on the matter, the official said. At first, neither Kelley nor the FBI knew who was sending the harassing emails-- because they came from accounts that were not immediately identifiable. But the FBI was eventually able to determine they came from Broadwell and then obtained access to her regular email account. It was only then that the FBI discovered, through her email exchanges with Petraeus, an apparent relationship between the two of them, the official said.

The FBI continued investigating the matter and was close to wrapping up the case late in October, the official said. Agents finally interviewed Petraeus the week of Oct. 29 and then re-interviewed Broadwell, allowing them to complete their investigation, according to multiple officials. It was only at that point that the decision was made to pass along information about the case to Clapper, the senior law enforcement official said, setting in motion the chain of events that led to Petraeus' resignation.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Woman fired over racist anti-Obama Facebok post
• Obama lays wreath, honors nation's veterans
• Officials: Complaint about Broadwell sparked FBI inquiry that indicated Petraeus affair
• Earthquake rattles eastern Kentucky
• Video: Sandy victims call ordeal ‘a horror movie’

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

NBC's Kristen Welker contributed to this report.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has ended a lengthy investigation into the CIA's interrogation and treatment of prisoners without bringing any criminal charges. 

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the investigation into the deaths of two suspected terrorists  who died in CIA custody -- one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan -- was ended without charges because "the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt." 

The two cases include the highly publicized case of Manadel al-Jamadi, who died in a shower stall at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq while in CIA custody.  Several U.S. soldiers, who were photographed with al-Jamadi's body, packed in ice inside a body bag, were later prosecuted and convicted in military courts for prisoner abuse. 

---

The investigation spanned more than four years. It began with an investigation into the CIA's destruction of videotapes of aggressive interrogations of terrorist suspects, but was later expanded to include the deaths of the two detainees. 

In all the Justice Department investigated the treatment of 101 detainees who been held in U.S. custody since 9/11. 

CIA Director David Petraeus issued a statement thanking everyone at the CIA who supported the Justice Departments investigations.  

In an apparent effort to put the incidents and investigations to rest, Petraeus added, "As intelligence officers our inclination of course is to look ahead to the challenges of the future rather than backwards at those of the past."

More from Open Channel:

• ·  S. African telecom firm helped Iran evade US sanctions, documents show
• ·  Vote on an iPad? Technology could supplant voter IDs at polls
• ·  One of the most dangerous cities in the US plans to ditch its police force
• ·  Navy sought to stifle concerns about radiation at ex-base, emails show
• ·  Drug ingredients made in China entering market with little oversight
• ·  Florida once again a battleground as rules tighten on voter registration
• ·  What ID do I need to vote in my state?

 

Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

An investigation of the FBI's handling of the events leading up to the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009, concludes that agents made a series of mistakes, failing to follow up on important questions and to share information widely enough.

"We do not find, and we do not suggest, that these mistakes resulted from intentional misconduct or the disregard of duties," concluded William Webster, the FBI's former director who led the investigation. "Indeed, we find that each special agent, intelligence analyst, and task force officer who handled the information acted with good intent."

Click here to read the full report (pdf)

Most of the shortcomings have been previously disclosed, and some resulted from a lack of training and of understanding military nomenclature. For example, agents in San Diego, who were investigating al-Qaida propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, noticed on December 17, 2008, that Nidal Hasan, who would become the Fort Hood shooter, sent al-Awlaki an e-mail asking about soldiers who kill fellow military personnel with the aim of "helping muslims fighting jihad."

---

Related: Judge delays Fort Hood shooting hearing over Hasan's beard

The San Diego agents decided against sending out a broadly disseminated message that would have alerted the system that a member of the US military was communicating with a known al-Qaida terrorist. The agents noticed that a summary of his military records said Hasan was a "Comm Officer," and they assumed it meant he was a communications officer and might have access to the system that would contain such an alert message. In fact, the abbreviation meant Hasan was a commissioned officer.

Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

The report also says agents in the FBI's Washington field office failed to follow through more aggressively to the leads developed in San Diego. Part of the problem, the report said, was that the FBI received only glowing accounts from the Department of Defense about Hasan's career. Agents were never told that he was actually considered a poor performer who was often on probation.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Foundation repair business soars as drought hits homes
• 55 years ago, 6 stood under atomic bomb blast — on purpose
• Report: 'Lazy' summers may undermine military readiness
• Mortgage woes afflict high rate of active troops, veterans
• Is liberal Christianity signing its own death warrant?

Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Two congressional leaders vowed Tuesday to investigate how word of a successful operation to foil a bomb plot by a Yemen-based al-Qaida affiliate leaked to reporters for the Associated Press. 

“This leak could have been … devastating and still could have significant long term damage,” Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said after a closed door briefing on the operation. “I believe it's absolutely essential a full investigation is carried out as to who was responsible for this leak. 

“I can't emphasize how closed this was, how compartmentalized it was, and how secret it was, and yet the fact that it could have gotten out in any kind of detail at all, … that even a hint of it could have gotten out, is really, really shocking.”

---

King’s words were echoed by Rep Charles “Dutch” Ruppersberger III of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. 

 

“When you have a leak it could cost American lives, your allies’ lives,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “It also deters people from giving information. So, it's very important that we make sure that we have a sensitive investigation, it has to be a classified, need-to-know type of situation.” 

The Associated Press broke the story Monday of the foiled plot by members of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to detonate on a U.S.-bound airliner a refined version of an “underwear bomb” used in two previous failed terror plots. 

Insider thwarted underwear bomb plot, triggered drone strike, US officials say

The news service said it had learned about the plot last week but agreed to White House and CIA requests not to publish a story immediately because the sensitive intelligence operation was still under way. Once officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP said it decided to disclose the plot Monday despite requests from the Obama administration to wait for an official announcement Tuesday. 

If word of the operation had leaked out prior to the weekend, it could have disrupted an attack in Yemen by a U.S. Predator drone that U.S. officials say killed Fahd al-Quso, whom they described as director of external operations at AQAP, who was “involved (in the bomb plot) in an intimate fashion.”

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Heathrow chaos: Travelers spend longer in line than on jets
• Leak hits Shell Nigeria pipeline at center of environmental case
• Story of vengeful jilted dentist WAS too good to be true
• Poll: Most Egyptians think US aid billions have 'negative effect'
• London jogger: Dustin Hoffman 'saved my life'

 

NEW YORK —The three New York City apartments owned by the mysterious heiress Huguette Clark have been listed for sale, with a total asking price of $55 million, even as the legal contest over her $400 million estate is just beginning.

"Butterfield 8 - the exchange number found on the old dial telephone - sets the tone for what this apartment represents: timeless grace; high style and prime location," the listing brokers wrote in their description, marketing the apartments as a time capsule from New York's Gilded Age. The apartments are listed by Brown Harris Stevens, an exclusive affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate.

The apartments will need significant work. They are described as "a diamond in the rough."

---

The three apartments cost the reclusive heiress to a Montana copper fortune $28,500 a month in co-op fees, or $342,000 a year, while she lived for two decades in New York hospital rooms. Huguette Marcelle Clark has been the subject of a series of reports on msnbc.com about her vacant properties and the management of her fortune. When she died last May at age 104, she owned three apartments at 907 Fifth Avenue, at 72nd Street, overlooking Central Park's Conservatory Water, the sailboat pond where the mouse Stuart Little sailed in the E.B. White story, near the statute of Alice in Wonderland.

Her three apartments have a total of 42 rooms. Two of her apartments make up the entire eighth floor, or about 10,000 square feet, with another 5,000 square feet in an apartment that occupies half of the top floor, the 12th. (She also owned an oceanfront estate in Santa Barbara, Calif., with an estimated value of $100 milliion, and a country home in New Canaan, Conn., which has been on the market for $24 million.)

No photos of the inside of the apartments are available yet — they are still being cleared of her property, including her collections of dolls and fine paintings.

But floorplans were released by the brokers at Brown Harris Stevens. And the listings are here, for apartment 8E, apartment 8W, and apartment 12W.

Here are the three apartments:

 

Earlier estimates by real estate agents put the value of the apartments at about $70 million, $15 million more than they were listed for. The value of the two apartments on the 8th floor would increase, the brokers said, if the co-op board allowed them to be combined.

When the apartments sell, some of the money will be used to pay estate expenses, with the rest will be held for the eventual winner of the legal battle.

Clark signed two wills when she was 98. The first will left nearly everything to her family, the children of her father's first marriage. The second will, signed just six weeks later, was more detailed, excluding her family entirely and making plans for an art museum in her California oceanfront home (with $100 million in real estate, $100 million in artwork, and $10 million in cash), and leaving about $36 million to her nurse ($27 million after taxes), a $40 million Monet to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, with smaller gifts to a godchild, her doctor, her attorney, her accountant and others. The family has accused Clark's nurse, attorney and accountant of colluding, while the attorney and accountant have said that Clark's wishes were expressed specifically in the second will.

Clark and her mother moved into the building in 1927 or 1928 after the death of Huguette's father, the former Sen. William Andrews Clark, in 1925. The mother and daughter moved down Fifth Avenue from the family's enormous home, with 121 rooms at 962 Fifth Avenue, which was being demolished. Just a five-minute walk away, the Italian palazzo-style apartment building at 907 Fifth Avenue was designed by renowned architect J.E.R. Carpenter.

It had the most expensive apartments in the city when it opened in 1915. The head of Standard Oil, Herbert L. Pratt, rented the entire 12th floor. As The New York Times tells it, the architect, "Mr. Carpenter, who was described as 'the father of the modern large apartment' in New York City, was one of the building’s first residents. In the 1920s, he lived alongside oil barons, a tinplate king, a president of the New York Stock Exchange, and a Russian prince." After Pratt moved out, the Clark mother and daughter moved into the 12th floor. The mother later moved to the 8th floor. After she died in 1963, Huguette Clark moved down to 8, leaving 12 for storage of her dollhouses and other furnishings.

Guests enter the limestone building through a canopy-protected doorway on 72nd Street into a lobby with a coffered ceiling and a striking stone staircase. Amenities include full-time doormen, a full gymnasium and a landscaped rooftop garden.

Photos of other apartments in the building are availble in a previous story, You can move into heiress Huguette Clark's building, for $25 million.

---

Reporter Bill Dedman is continuing to report on the Clark story, and is writing a nonfiction book about the Clark family. If you have information, you can reach him at bill.dedman@msnbc.com.

Previous stories in the Huguette Clark mystery series on msnbc.com:

Archive of all stories, photos and videos.

Photo narrative, "The Clarks: An American story of wealth, scandal and mystery," Feb. 26, 2010.

Printable version of the photo narrative, Feb. 26, 2010.

Clark family notes and sources, Feb. 26, 2010.

Investigative report, part one, "At 104, the mysterious heiress Huguette Clark is alone now: Relatives are kept away. Only her accountant and attorney visit. Who protects HuguetteClark, with 3 empty homes and no heirs?" Aug. 19, 2010.

Investigative report, part two, "Who is watching Huguette Clark's millions? Reclusive heiress's assets are sold by two advisers, one an accountant with a felony conviction. Another elderly client signed over his property to the same accountant and attorney," Aug. 20, 2010.

"Criminal probe begins into the finances of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark: Manhattan DA's Elder Abuse Unit is on the case. The same unit prosecuted the Brooke Astor case; Clark has about four times the wealth," Aug. 24, 2010.

"Report sparks welfare check on heiress Huguette Clark," Aug. 25, 2010.

"Generosity of an heiress: four homes for a nurse, gifts for attorney's family," Sept. 1, 2010.

"Huguette Clark, the reclusive heiress, has signed a will, attorney says," Sept. 2, 2010.

"Family of copper heiress asks court to protect her from attorney, accountant," Sept. 3, 2010.

"Attorney for 104-year-old heiress defends his handling of her finances," Sept. 7, 2010.

"Judge leaves pair under investigation in control of heiress Huguette Clark's fortune," Sept. 9, 2010.

"Huguette Clark, the reclusive copper heiress, dies at 104," May 24, 2011.

"Family excluded from Huguette Clark burial," May 26, 2011.

"Heiress Huguette Clark's will leaves $1 million to advisers," June 22, 2011.

"The 1 percent of the 1 percent: How Huguette Clark's millions were spent," Nov. 19, 2011.

"A $400 miillion twist: Huguette Clark signed two wills, one to her family," Nov. 28, 2011.

"Tax fraud alleged in estate of heiress Huguette Clark; accountant resigns," Dec. 21, 2011.

"Nurse, in line to inherit millions, battles family of heiress Huguette Clark," Dec. 22, 2011.

"Judge bounces attorney and accountant from estate of heiress Huguette Clark," Dec. 23, 2011.

"Book coming on reclusive heiress Huguette Clark and her family," Feb. 3, 2012.

"You can move into heiress Huguette Clark's building, for $25 million," Feb. 6, 2012.

 "Family of heiress Huguette Clark claims fraud by nurse, attorney, accountant," Feb. 15, 2012.