Obama ‘has faith’ in Gen John Allen despite sexual harassment allegation

US President Barack Obama is backing General John Allen – the second top military official to become embroiled in a sex scandal in recent days.

Allen has been chosen to become the next NATO commander in Europe. However, his nomination has been put on hold after accusations that he sent sexually inappropriate emails.

“The President thinks very highly of General Allen and his service to his country as well as the job he has done in Afghanistan… He has faith in General Allen, believes he is doing and has done an excellent job at ISAF,” said White House Spokesman Jay Carney.

Investigators are going through 20,000-30,000 emails as they look for evidence of the sexual harrasment that has been alleged by Jill Kelley, a socialite and volunteer liaison officer at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

It was the probe into Kelley’s allegations that led to the uncovering of the affair between former military officer Paula Broadwell and ex-CIA director David Petraeus.

The two are said to have become close while Broadwell wrote his biography.

Petraeus stood down as CIA chief on Friday citing the affair.

Another investigation is looking into whether Broadwell may have any sensitive or classified documents, with an FBI search having been carried out at her North Carolina home.

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