David Petraeus' mistress: What we know about Paula Broadwell

It didn't take long for the press to unearth the woman who fell for Petraeus and then inadvertently helped bring down his career

Petraeus and Broadwell photographed together in July 2011: The two reportedly began their affair shortly after Petraeus began heading the CIA in September 2011.
(Image credit: AP Photo/ISAF)

On Nov. 9, CIA Director David Petraeus' sudden resignation, and the extramarital affair cited as the cause of his downfall, shocked just about everyone. The FBI uncovered the affair during a months-long investigation of "threatening and harassing" emails to a woman close to Petraeus, from a sender who turned out to be the retired general's paramour, Paula Broadwell. But most of Washington didn't learn about the relationship until last week. Once the surprise wore off that a celebrated general "known as a brainy ascetic," married for 38 years, would end his storied career in so tawdry a manner, say Scott Shane and Sheryl Gay Stolberg in The New York Times — and that, "in jaundiced Washington," an extramarital affair could destroy such a career — curiosity shifted to Broadwell, the 40-year-old married mother of two who wrote a glowing biography of Petraeus, 60. (Watch her promote her book on The Daily Show below.) Here's what we know so far about the woman whose zealous devotion to Petraeus inadvertently helped end his CIA career:

What's Broadwell's story?

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