FBI agent in Petraeus scandal has been a hero

FBI agent in Petraeus scandal helped stop plot to bomb Los Angeles airport in 1999

Published On: Nov 15 2012 08:02:02 AM EST
TAMPA, Fla. -

The Tampa FBI agent who prompted the investigation that resulted in CIA Director David Petraeus' resignation is no stranger to the limelight.

FBI Special Agent Frederick Humphries II played a key role in stopping a terrorist attack aimed at blowing up Los Angeles International Airport just as the year 2000 dawned. He also fatally shot a man who threatened him and other law enforcement officers with a knife during an altercation at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in 2010.

Humphries was the agent who initially saw the emails Petraeus' biographer, Paula Broadwell, sent to Tampa socialite Jill Kelley. Humphries thought the emails raised serious concerns because the anonymous author knew the comings and goings of Petraeus and Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Related: Untangling the Petraeus sex scandal