Jill Kelley

Kelley was born in Beirut, Lebanon,[11] on June 3, 1975. Her family includes her identical twin sister, attorney Natalie Khawam;[12] a brother, attorney David Khawam; and sister, Caroline.[13] Jill's parents[14] are Catholics who immigrated to the United States from Beirut, Lebanon in the mid-1970s.[15] Kelley, who was nicknamed "Gigi" lived in the Philadelphia area until her mid-20s.[16][17] Following high school, she worked for a medical researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1999, Kelley married cancer surgeon Scott Kelley[18] whom she met when she was publishing medical research at the University of Pennsylvania. Her husband completed his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, attended Columbia University Medical School, and completed surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania.[16] Following their marriage, Kelley moved to Tampa with her husband, and they subsequently had three children. She holds two biomedical patents.[19]

Kelley and her husband (Scott) are active in the highest social circles in the Washington DC Tampa area.[20][21][22] Kelley previously served in a volunteer social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.[23] Kelley and her husband are known for hosting cigar and caviar parties for military leaders at their home near the United States Central Command.[24]

In 2011 Kelley was named Honorary Consul for the Republic of Korea, a title she was given for her connections between high ranking US commanders and South Korean companies and government.[6][7] She served in the role until 2012.

Kelley has stated that she was inappropriately removed from the post because she was a figure in the Petraeus scandal.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]

As an honorary social ambassador to the MacDill Air Force Base military community, Kelley was known to be "connective tissue" to the diplomatic community.[33] Kelley is a regular on the DC diplomatic circuit and frequently attends embassy events.[34] She is known to be the go-between for Lebanese and other Middle Eastern government officials.[35]Kelley spent years advising the United States Military with high-level engagements across the region. She uses her expertise to help companies navigate global issues.[9]

In 2011, she received the Joint Chiefs of Staff Outstanding Public Service Award.[36]

In 2012, she was an honorary ambassador to U.S. Central Command under Marine General James N. Mattis, then commander of U.S. military forces in the Middle East.[8][9]

In 2018, Jill Kelley and a senior advisor to the president had a meeting with the Polish government to set up a U.S. military base in Poland, with Poland paying for all the costs, to improve their national security and gain better relations with the U.S. military and the United States.[37]

Over the years Kelley and her husband Scott Kelley have been involved with many philanthropic activities, including volunteering and organizing philanthropic events benefiting many National and private charities. Some of the organizations that benefited included American Red Cross, the Museum of Art, the United States Military, Wounded Vets[39] and the homeless community.[1][40][41]

In May 2012, Kelley complained to an FBI investigator that she received multiple harassing e-mails sent by an anonymous person. In her communication with the FBI, Kelley stated that the e-mails appeared to be an attempt to blackmail General David Petraeus. After the threats increased and subsequently targeted the family whereabouts, Kelley filed an official report with the FBI in June 2012. The investigation into the emails led to the FBI's discovery of CIA Director General David Petraeus's extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell who was Petraeus's biographer at the time.[52][53][54] The FBI determined through their investigation into the matter that Paula Broadwell was the stalker and the source of the threatening emails.

During the course of the criminal investigation, government officials disclosed Kelley's name as the victim to the Washington Post, along with the evidentiary emails she provided to the FBI.[55] FBI agents searched "years" of Kelley's personal e-mails not pertinent or relevant to the case,[56] which was followed by false descriptions of her personal emails by a series of hints to the press about emails between U.S.’s top commander in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen.[57] The accusations sparked an investigation by the Department of Defense, in which the Inspector General's report concluded the government leaks and accusations were baseless and the email content was not improper.[58][59] Nonetheless, the false accusations stated by government officials made Kelley a near-daily feature of the media, creating a sideshow at her family's expense.[60] November 6th, 2013 Kelley penned an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal warning against government surveillance by describing herself as the "human face" of the damage that can be caused by government probing into Americans' personal communications. Since her story, she became an advocate for privacy rights to "prevent her unwarranted tragedy from ever happening to another innocent family."[61]

On June 3, 2013, Kelley filed a privacy lawsuit against the federal government[62] alleging that investigators violated her privacy rights by unlawfully searching her personal emails and disclosing false descriptions of the nature of her emails to the media.[63] In addition, she stated "false and untrue headlines, created a media sideshow" at her expense,[64] including being wrongly implicated in an extramarital affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. In November 2013, Kelley described herself as the "human face" of the damage that can be caused by government probing into communications of law-abiding citizens.[65] As a result of this incident, Kelley has become an advocate for internet privacy and security.[66] According to a lawsuit Kelley and her husband filed against the FBI, Department of Defense and other governmental agencies on June 3, 2013, "[b]y disclosing the contents of the Kelleys' emails, by either directly sharing contents of the emails or making statements suggesting that the content of the emails was lurid, government officials served Mrs. Kelley up on a platter to be devoured in a frenzy of salacious speculation regarding the nature of her relationship with Director Petraeus."[62]

In 2014, she received the support of two U.S. Congressmen to advocate for stronger privacy rights using her story to "bring awareness to the damages that can be caused by government overreach and unwarranted searches of emails[67][68] so that history will not repeat itself, and this never happens to another innocent family again."[69] She has since become a privacy rights advocate and activist for internet security. Her memoir, Collateral Damage: Petraeus, Power, Politics and the Abuse of Privacy[70][71] seeks to bring awareness to the damage that can be caused by government overreach and unwarranted searches.[67][68]

In 2016, Kelley was invited by Yale University's largest undergraduate organization[72] to give a speech on privacy rights and Internet security, and reform and stronger protection on electronic communications.[73] As a guest speaker, Kelley joined a prestigious roster of previous speakers from academia.[72] The New York Times alluded to Jill Kelley as "An Apostle for Privacy".[74]

• JillKelley.com - Her personal website
• Military Diplomatic Strategies - Her company website
• Jill Kelley on Twitter