House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) speaks during a summit on September 14, 2012 in Washington, DC.
Eric Cantor, a Republican representative from Virginia and the House Majority Leader, sits at the top of the “who knew what, and when did they know it” pyramid that began with Jill Kelley’s FBI complaints about harrassing emails from Paula Broadwell. Frederick Humphries, the FBI agent who first caught wind of the burgeoning scandal, took the matter to Congress, informing Washington rep. Dave Reichert’s office on Saturday, Oct. 27. The agent was passed along to Cantor’s office. According to an unnamed Cantor staff member, the agent, described as a whistleblower, said he had details of Petraeus’ affair and a possible national security breach.
“I was contacted by an FBI employee concerned that sensitive, classified information may have been compromised and made certain [FBI] Director [Robert] Mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security,” Cantor said in a statement.
Cantor asked his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, to pass the information along to Mueller, ABC News reports. The federal government was closed the following Monday and Tuesday due to Hurricane Sandy, so Mueller didn’t receive the message until Wednesday, Oct. 31.
Cantor learned of the alleged affair just days before the 2012 election on Nov. 6; he did not share the information with anyone else, according to a senior aide. House Speaker John Boehner, for example, reportedly didn’t learn that Cantor had any involvement until the story broke publicly.