Revealed: FBI Agent Shirtless, the man who emailed topless pictures of himself to socialite Jill Kelley and brought down a general

• Frederick W. Humphries, 47,  has confirmed that he is the FBI agent who initiated the investigation that brought down ex-CIA boss David Petraeus
• He denies sending any photographs of a sexual nature to Florida socialite Jill Kelley - but has confirmed a topless picture was sent years ago
• He is a decorated FBI agent and assisted the investigation which halted the 'Millennium Bomber' who attempted to blow-up LAX in 1999
• It has been revealed that he personally took concerns over the investigation to Republican Eric Cantor the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives
  

By James Nye

PUBLISHED: 19:16 EST, 14 November 2012 | UPDATED: 08:56 EST, 15 November 2012

The mysterious 'Shirtless FBI Agent' who began the investigation that led to the resignation of David Petraeus has been revealed.

Frederick W. Humphries, has been accused of sending Tampa socialite Jill Kelley sexual photos of himself after she contacted him for help about threatening emails she had received from David Petraeus' biographer-turned-mistress Paula Broadwell.

But today the 47-year-old insisted the photograph was sent as a 'joke' and described it as him 'posing with a couple of dummies.'

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FBI Special Agent Fred Humphries has been identified as the 'Shirtless FBI Agent' who helped begin the investigation that brought down David Petraeus

Veteran FBI agent Frederick Humphries is recognised as a dilligent and passionate officer who helped to thwart numerous terror threats to the United States

Refuting media suggestions that the picture was sent because he had become enamoured with the attractive Florida socialite, the decorated FBI agent said that the photo was sent years ago.

According to the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association who have spoken to Humphries, the FBI counter terrorism agent only passed on the information Kelley provided him with and played no part in the subsequent investigation.

 

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• How did she get so close? Faux humility and breathtaking arrogance; Paula Broadwell's formidable assault on the court of 'King David'
• Petraeus WILL testify on Benghazi attack before congressional committees despite resignation over sex scandal
• Angry Obama blasts top 'outrageous' Republicans for attacking 'reputation' of U.N. ambassador Susan Rice over Benghazi
• 'We are safer because of Dave': Obama breaks his silence on CIA scandal and says there is 'no evidence' leaked classified documents hurt national security
• How Jill Kelley and her 'Kardashian' twin sister were invited to General Petraeus's daughter's wedding - and mingled with Vice President Joe Biden

Lawrence Berger told the New York Times that Humphries, who played a key role in stopping a terrorist attack aimed at blowing up Los Angeles International Airport in 1999 and his wife had been 'social friends with Ms. Kelley and her husband prior to the day she referred the matter to him.'

'They always socialized and corresponded.'

Berger denied any suggestion that Humphries sent inappropriate shirtless pictures to Kelley during the course of the investigation which has now engulfed the intelligence community in Washington.

Emails to a friend: Socialite Jill Kelly arrives home in Tampa on Tuesday night

'That picture was sent years before Kelley contacted him about this, and it was sent as part of a larger context of what I would call social relations in which the families would exchange numerous photos of each other,' said Berger.

Claiming that the picture was sent as a 'joke', Berger said that Humphries was 'posing with a couple of dummies' at the time of the photograph and that it was not sexual in nature.

However, those with knowledge of the investigation that Humphries sparked said that he was given a dressing down by his superiors for trying to push the complaint forward.

In fact, according to the New York Times, Humphries believed that the case was purposefully being stalled for political reasons.

So much so, that in October, Humphries contacted Representative Dave Recihert, a Republican from Washington State, where Humphries had worked before to ask for his help - purposefully going over his bosses heads.

Serious: Humphries is pictured at a news conference in July 2005 at the Federal Courthouse in Seattle

'Sense of humour': Humphries claims that the topless picture he sent to Kelley was 'a joke'

Mr. Reichert directed him to House majority leader, Eric Cantor who eventually passed the message onto the FBI director, Robert S. Mueller.

According to Wired Magazine, Cantor and his staff personally met with Humphries in October but were unable to act on the information he was giving them because they doubted his credibility.

They also had no idea that FBI were investigating David Petraeus in the first place and after conferring they decided to contact FBI Director Robert Mueller on October 31st.

One week later, on November 6th, Election Day, Mueller went to James Clapper the director of national intelligence and Petraeus' immediate superior - who urged him to resign his position as head of the CIA.

In fact, the House Judiciary Committee has written to Mueller to ask why it took him a week to come forward with the information that Humphries had given him.

In the field: In this April 12, 2007, photo, Frederick Humphries, right, works a scene in Tampa, Florida

This photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 shows the home owned by FBI agent Frederick Humphries in Dover, Florida

This information puts severe doubt over Humphries assertion that he took no active interest in the case that has caused the resignation of the CIA chief David Petraeus and could cause the downfall of General John Allen, who commands U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

'Fred is a passionate kind of guy,' said one former colleague. 'He’s kind of an obsessive type. If he locked his teeth onto something, he’d be a bulldog.'

Humphries has since been reassigned and his status is being reviewed by the FBI.

Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, defended Humphries as a experienced professional. 'From my view issues of national security have unfortunately been reduced to a bad episode of 'Real Housewives,' he said to the Wall Street Journal.

'The photos should not undermine the fact that the agent responded in a timely way and appropriately, nor do they reflect any amorous relationship,' he said.

Friends in high places: Natalie Khawam, Gen. David Petraeus; Scott and Jill Kelley and Holly Petraeus watch the Gasparilla parade in Tampa, Florida in 2010

All alone: Paula Broadwell sips a glass of wine after fleeing to her brother Steven's house in Washington DC

Embroiled: General John Allen - seen here with wife Kathy and daughter Bobbie behind him - is now caught up in the scandal after being linked with Jill Kelley

It was Humphries who passed on Jill Kelley's complaint about disturbing emails she had received to his superiors in the FBI Tampa field office.

The investigation tracked down the emails to Paula Broadwell and subsequently discovered the extramarital affair between 60-year-old Petraeus and the married mother-of-two.

The inquiry also brought in General John Allen after the FBI uncovered evidence that he had sent 'inappropriate communication' to Kelley.

Humphries grew up in Steilacoom, Washington, attended high school in Canada and rose to become a captain in military intelligence in the U.S. Army.

Studying criminology at the University of Tampa, Humphries joined the FBI and in 1999 he was involved in the investigation which foiled Ahmed Rassam the 'Millennium Bomber' who planned to attack Los Angeles International Airport.

General Allen (left) and David Petraeus (right) are both caught up to their necks in the burgeoning sex scanda

Who's who? A flow chart explains the connections between the major players in the Petraeus scandal

Heading out: Kelley has hired the crisis management team who represented Monica Lewinsky and an attorney

Two years ago the passionate officer was attacked outside of MAcDill Air Force Base in Tampa by a knife wielding man, who Humphries fatally shot.

In the subsequent inquiry into the shooting, Humphries was determined to have used appropriate force in taking down the man who was reported to be unhinged.

The special agent was also involved in the investigation of former University of South Florida student Youssef Megahed.

Megahed was arrested in August 2007 along with USF student Ahmed Mohamed in South Carolina while the pair were transported explosive PVC pipes filled with potassium nitrate.

Popular: Jill Kelley is pictured left in her yearbook photo and with her husband Dr. Scott Kelley, right

Frederick Humphries: FBI Agent in Petraeus Scandal Has Been an American Hero

• Frederick Humphries, 47, was the agent who initially saw the emails the FBI said Petraeus' biographer and mistress, Paula Broadwell, sent to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, a woman she apparently saw as a rival for Petraeus' affections.
  
• Humphries joined the FBI in 1996 and first came to prominence in 1999 after an Algerian man was arrested by U.S. Customs agents as he tried to enter Washington state from Canada by ferry. Ahmed Ressam had white powder, chemicals and homemade timing devices in the trunk of his car.
  
• Ressam claimed to be a French-speaker from Quebec. According to a 2002 Seattle Times story, Humphries, then the only French-speaker assigned to the FBI's Seattle office, was asked to question him. As soon as Humphries heard Ressam's accent and phrasing, he knew he wasn't from Quebec and told his colleagues to arrest him, the story said. It was later learned Ressam was part of an al-Qaida plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport on New Year's Eve 1999.
  
• By 2010, Humphries had been assigned to the FBI's Tampa office and was its liaison to MacDill, home to the military's Central Command.
  
• On May 19, 2010, 61-year-old Army veteran Ronald J. Bullock, who was camping at the base, got into an altercation with base security.
  
• Officials said Bullock sped off on a motorcycle, but was stopped by other security officers and Humphries as he tried to exit a gate. They said he got off the motorcycle and came at Humphries and the officers while brandishing a knife. Humphries fired, killing Bullock. The shooting was later ruled justified.

Megahed was charged with illegal transportation of explosive materials and possession of a destructive device. Neither man was convicted on those charges, but Mohamed received a 15-year sentence after an FBI investigation found he posted an Internet video showing how to make a toy car's remote control into a detonator.

However, after his April 2009 acquital, Megahed was arrested again for a deportation hearing - after authorities deemed his continuation in the United States too dangerous to continue.

'We felt that Mr. Megahed was willingly providing assistance to Mr. Mohamed, who is a self-professed terrorist,' Humphries said at the time to The Tampa Bay Times.

However, the attempt to deport the former student failed and Megahed remains in the country.

Search: FBI agents left Broadwell's Charlotte, NC home on Monday evening with documents and computers

Revealed: It came after she admitted to investigators that she had classified documents at the home

Vigilant: Charlotte-Mecklenburg police stand guard outside Broadwell's house during the FBI search

Lawrence Berger, a lawyer for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told New York Magazine that Humphries passed the information on to supervisors but was not assigned to the case.

'No one tries to become a whistle-blower,' said Lawrence Berger.

'Consistent with FBI policy, he referred it to the proper component.'

This comes as it was revealed that the harassing emails sent by Paula Broadwell, the biographer-turned-mistress of David Petraeus, to her perceived love rival, Florida socialite Jill Kelley, contained confidential information about the CIA boss's movements

After Kelley contacted the FBI, agents launched a massive in-depth investigation into who was sending the emails because they shared this detailed information that was not publicly available.

The catty emails, which told Kelley to 'back off' from Petraeus, were sent to Kelley from several fake email addresses. In order to find who had confidential information about Petraeus' whereabouts, the FBI obtained an administrative subpoena, and traced them back to Broadwell.

Affair: David Petraeus is pictured with Paula Broadwell, his biographer and alleged mistress

Life goes on: Broadwell looked like she was preparing a salad at the home of her brother

In the course of the investigation, they also unearthed emails indicating the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus, leading to his resignation on Friday.

The new details of what uncovered Petraeus' months-long relationship with his biographer come as the FBI continue to search military documents Broadwell admitted to stashing in her home.

Security officials have revealed she had 'substantial' classified information on her computer which should have been stored more securely.

The computer was taken from Broadwell's Charlotte, North Carolina home on Monday night after she admitted to FBI investigators that she had taken classified military documents, a source told ABC.

President Obama said on Wednesday there was no indication so far that any classified documents had been found but said he will not prejudge the investigation results.

Officials continue to investigate exactly how Broadwell acquired the files, but as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Military Reserve, she had security clearance to review the documents.

The government had demanded she return the documents and organised the visit to her home. Prosecutors are now deciding whether to charge her with a crime.

Watch Video: Jill Kelley leaves her house in Tampa, Florida

Watch Video: The home of Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell is searched by FBI

Watch Video: Calls for an investigation into the timeline of the Petraeus affair