After Investigation Clears Allen, White House to Proceed with NATO Nomination

The White House said Wednesday that it would move forward with the nomination of Gen. John R. Allen as the top NATO commander now that he has been cleared of wrongdoing in connection with a series of e-mails with a Florida socialite.

General Allen’s appointment had been on hold since the e-mails were discovered during the investigation that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency who was having an extramarital affair. The Department of Defense said Tuesday that it found no improprieties by General Allen.

“The D.O.D.’s investigator general’s investigation of that matter is now complete and we welcome its findings,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said at a briefing on Wednesday. “And therefore, we intend for the nomination to proceed.” He said that “we hope the Senate will consider it in a timely manner, and, you know, we will press the Senate! to do just that.”

General Allen, a Marine, is currently the top American commander in Afghanistan, but his successor has already been confirmed and is due to replace him within weeks. Until now, General Allen’s fate had been uncertain. Even after the e-mail investigation was completed, officials initially said no decision had been made on whether to go ahead with the NATO nomination.

The Pentagon’s inspector general looked into whether his e-mails with Jill Kelley, a socialite from Tampa, Fla., violated policy, regulation or military law. About 15 investigators pored through the e-mails and examined them for indications of an inappropriate relationship or security breaches and concluded that “allegations of professional misconduct were not substantiated,” as te Pentagon spokesman put it.

Ms. Kelley became ensnared in the investigation after she asked an acquaintance at the Federal Bureau of Investigation for help with what she considered harassing anonymous e-mails she received warning her to stay away from Mr. Petraeus. Ultimately, the F.B.I. determined that those e-mails had been sent by Paula Broadwell, Mr. Petraeus’s biographer. Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general and former commander in Afghanistan and Iraq, acknowledged having an affair with Ms. Broadwell and resigned on Nov. 9, but the e-mails between Ms. Kelley and General Allen were sent to the Pentagon for review.

On Wednesday, General Allen broke a long silence on the investigation and released a statement in Kabul through his spokesman, Maj. David Nevers! .

â! €œFrom the outset, the general placed his faith in â€" and fully supported â€" the investigative process,” Major Nevers said. “He’s obviously pleased by the outcome. But more critically, he is grateful for the support he received throughout this process from his chain of command, friends, family and colleagues.”

Ms. Kelley had remained publicly quiet until Wednesday, when she and her husband, Scott, published an article on the op-ed page of The Washington Post, decrying what they called a breach of their privacy. They disputed reports that she had sent General Allen 30,000 e-mails, a distortion of original reports saying that investigators were looking at 30,000 pages of documents, many of them e-mail messages.

“This is untrue, and the insinuation that Jill was involved in an extramarital affair is as preposterousas it is hurtful to our family,” Jill and Scott Kelley wrote. “This small sample of junk reporting was emotionally exhausting and damaging - as it would be to the strongest of families.”