Florida woman’s lawsuit against the government over alleged leaking of private information could reveal more about FBI’s role

A federal judge ruled Monday that a Tampa, Florida, woman can pursue her lawsuit alleging that the government invaded her privacy in the scandal over former CIA director David Petraeus.

US district judge Amy Berman Jackson said Jill Kelley can press her claim that the FBI and Defense Department violated her privacy when officials allegedly leaked information about her to the news media.

The ruling does not deal with the merits of the case, but as the lawsuit proceeds, it could reveal more about the role various government agencies played as the scandal unfolded two years ago.

In 2012, Kelley complained to the FBI when an unknown person sent her harassing emails. Her complaint triggered a criminal investigation that led agents to Paula Broadwell, who was Petraeus’s biographer and with whom he had been having an affair.

Amid the sensational disclosure about the CIA director, Kelley’s name and some of the harassing emails were leaked to the news media. The leaks also linked Marine General John Allen, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, as being under investigation for allegedly inappropriate communications with Kelley.

According to court filings by Kelley’s lawyers, the government falsely told one news outlet the emails between Allen and Kelley were the equivalent of phone sex. The lawyers argued that given the prurient nature of the investigation and the “other woman” narrative propounded by the leakers, it was likely that Kelley’s treatment was motivated by sexual discrimination. The Pentagon’s inspector general exonerated Allen, who subsequently retired.

Jackson on Monday threw out more than a dozen allegations in the lawsuit filed by Kelley and her husband, Scott, but allowed a single claim to move forward – a charge that the FBI and Defense Department violated the Privacy Act. The act is a post-Watergate law designed to protect people from unwarranted invasions of privacy by federal agencies that maintain sensitive information about them.

Among the claims tossed out were allegations against individual officials including then-defense secretary Leon Panetta, former deputy FBI director Sean Joyce and two FBI agents.

The Justice Department says Kelley failed to present any facts suggesting the FBI and the Pentagon flagrantly disregarded her privacy rights.