Gen. Allen cleared in Petraeus email case

A Pentagon probe has absolved Gen. John Allen of professional misconduct in exchanging inappropriate emails with the same Florida socialite, Jill Kelley, involved in the scandal prompting former CIA director David H. Petraeus to resign.

In a letter sent to Mr. Allen on Friday, the inspector general wrote that he had not violated any code of conduct in the emails.

"He was completely exonerated," a senior defense official said.

Since the scandal, Ms. Kelley gave her first interview Tuesday with the Daily Beast. She was the one who received emails from Paula Broadwell, the woman who was having an affair with Mr. Petraeus. Ms. Kelley brought the emails to the FBI's attention.

During the Petraeus probe, the FBI uncovered what officials described as racy and flirtatious emails between Mr. Allen and Ms. Kelley, prompting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to order an investigation. When the scandal first broke, Mr. Allen's nomination to head U.S. and NATO forces in Europe was postponed.

Officials have long insisted that Mr. Allen did not have a sexual relationship with Ms. Kelley and that she merely was close friends with him and his wife, Kathy.

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