Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that he doesn’t know of any other U.S. military officers involved in the investigation into former CIA Director David Petraeus and top U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen.
"I am not aware of any others that could be involved in this issue at the present time. Obviously, as this matter continues to be investigated both on Capitol Hill and by the inspector general, I'm sure we'll have to wait an see what additional factors are brought to our attention," said Panetta at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, according to media reports.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations said on Tuesday that it handed over 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emailed correspondence between Allen and Jill Kelley, a Tampa, Fla., woman and friend of Petraeus.
Kelley initially complained of receiving harassing emails, which led to an FBI investigation that uncovered Petraeus’s extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell and led him to resign last Friday from this post as CIA director.
Panetta, who preceded Petraeus as CIA chief, reiterated his "confidence" in Allen, whose nomination to become NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe and head of U.S. European Command has been put on hold while the Defense Department inspector general continues its investigation into the “potentially inappropriate” communications.
"As I said, I have tremendous confidence in Gen. Allen, certainly in his ability and his leadership, and I don't think anybody ought to jump to any conclusions as to where any of this will lead," Panetta said.
Although the general will remain as U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Panetta has requested that the Senate act quickly to confirm his successor there, Gen. Joseph Dunford.
A source close to Allen earlier this week said the general had denied any wrongdoing in the matter, according to reports.
Petraeus on Thursday told CNN’s "Headline News" that he had stepped down from the CIA solely because of his affair and denied that his departure was linked to congressional probes into the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, or that he disclosed classified documents to Broadwell.
At his press conference, Panetta stressed that the actions of a few individuals do not reflect upon the military as a whole. He emphasized his faith in the leadership and ethical standards of U.S. military leaders.
"It is important that we ensure that the public understands that the vast majority of our military officers, and let's not forget, we have a thousand, a thousand officers, a thousand general officers and admirals who lead our forces and they do it with distinction, and they do it with courage, and they do it with good leadership, and they do it on an ethically high standard,” he said. “I don't think we ought to forget that, as we discuss what's occurred in these last few weeks."
Panetta is on a week-long visit to the Asia-Pacific region, with stops in Australia, Thailand and Cambodia. His trip to Thailand is the first official visit of a secretary of Defense to the country since 2008.
