It was a married Florida woman who blew the lid off the scandalous affair that led retired Gen. David Petraeus to resign as CIA chief when she told the FBI of allegedly threatening e-mails she’d received from his lover, sources said yesterday.
Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa — a “social liaison” to the powerful Joint Special Operations Command — reported the jealous messages from Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell, who is accused of sleeping with the married four-star general, to the FBI, sources said.
When Kelley read Broadwell’s e-mails, she was so scared that she went to the FBI for protection, according to a source, who said she initially approached a Florida field office of the FBI — not its headquarters — with a complaint of cyber-harassment.
Amy Scherzer/Tampa Bay Times
TROUBLE: Shamed CIA boss David Petraeus (from left) with Scott Kelley and Kelley’s wife, Jill, with Petraeus’ wife, Holly, in Tampa. Jill alerted the feds to “threatening” e-mails.
She had received numerous intimidating e-mails from a handful of pseudonymous addresses.
The nature of the e-mails, according to the source, was “I know what you’re doing” and similar suggestions that someone was on to Kelley. There was no explicit threat of violence.
The feds — fearing that the nation’s top spy was the victim of an e-mail hacker — traced the messages to Broadwell, and in the process discovered tawdry messages between her and Petraeus.
High-level Justice Department officials knew by late summer of an ongoing investigation involving Petraeus, a source said.
The married Broadwell, 40, told Kelley to “back off,” “stay away from my guy,” and warned, “I know what you did,” sources have told The Post.
Initial reports said the relationship ended before Petraeus took over the CIA in September 2011, but yesterday, ABC News and The Wall Street Journal said the affair actually began shortly after he was sworn in and ended only a few months ago.
Kelley, a mother of three, and Petraeus, 60, are friends who see each other often, sources said.
“We and our family have been friends with General 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,” Kelley said in a statement.
Petraeus has told friends he never had a romantic relationship with Kelley and saw her only when she was with her husband, CBS News reported.
Law-enforcement officials told the network they’ve uncovered no evidence of an affair between Kelley and Petraeus, and called her “a victim” who received threatening missives.
Kelley — who has no government title — often called herself an “ambassador” after a coalition of countries at the military’s Central Command gave her an appreciation certificate calling her an “honorary ambassador.”
More recently, Kelley, a volunteer for the military, also boasted she was named “honorary consulate general to South Korea” and attended a breakfast at the White House, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
She and her husband were regular guests of events held at Central Command headquarters when the general was stationed there, a source said. In turn, Petreaus, 60, and his wife of 38 years, Holly, have attended social functions at the Kelley house, the source added.
Kelley, a Philadelphia native, lives with her surgeon husband, Scott, in a three-story brick home on a swanky block with their daughters, ages 9, 7 and 6 — across the bay from Derek Jeter’s house.
Kelley was seen yesterday pacing inside her $1.5 million home and talking on the phone as she flipped between news channels while a birthday party for one of her daughters took place on the front yard. At least 100 people attended the catered event, which included a full liquor bar, a DJ and an inflatable jumping pit for kids.
No one answered the door, and she later left the house in a silver Lincoln Navigator.
Broadwell and Petraeus have declined to comment.
Kelley and her twin sister, Natalie, are the youngest of four kids of Lebanese immigrants, Marcelle and John Khawam.
Her mother is an accomplished cook, and her father is a well-known organist. They moved to the United States in the 1970s and still live near Philadelphia.
Natalie is a lawyer in Tampa, according to her LinkedIn page, which lists her speciality as “successfully representing whistleblowers.”
The twins — who often dressed in designer clothes — once competed together on a Food Network show.
A source said that Petraeus was first interviewed in connection with the investigation the week of Oct. 28, a week after Broadwell was questioned.
The FBI informed Petraeus’ boss, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, on the evening of Election Day, Nov. 6.
Clapper spoke with Petraeus that night and the following day and advised him to resign.
Senior US officials said Clapper informed the White House’s National Security Council staff of the looming scandal and Petraeus’ intention to resign on Wednesday.
President Obama was informed later that day, they said.
On Friday, the president accepted Petraeus’ resignation.
dmacleod@nypost.com
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