After the Photo of Porter’s Ex-Wife With a Black Eye Was Released the White House Invited Reporters to Chat With Rob Porter
Politico is out with a bombshell report detailing just how badly the Trump White House has handled the Rob Porter scandal. The scandal goes beyond the horrific allegations that Porter engaged in domestic physical and emotional abuse against his two ex-wives, that the White House knew about it at least for months, and did nothing. The scandal even goes beyond the fact few people in the White House had more access to the president and to every document – including classified and top secret – the president sees, than Rob Porter, and yet his background check was not completed. And the scandal goes beyond the fact that Porter’s background check would never be completed so he was operating on an interim security clearance because, apparently, a full security clearance could not be granted.
The scandal goes even further, into exactly how the Trump White House, under the direction of Chief of Staff John Kelly, views domestic violence.
Kelly had to have known of the allegations against Porter, and had to know of his security clearance problems, and yet, the retired United States Marine Corps general and former Secretary of Homeland Security ignored all of it.Â
And then, when the news was breaking, what did Kelly do?
Did he fire Rob Porter?Â
No.
Did he suspend Rob Porter?
No.
He issued a statement offering Rob Porter his support, and then, Kelly ordered – or at least, allowed – the White House press secretary to invite reporters in to the White House for a chat – with Rob Porter.
“While the president often makes a hash of the truth, aides took Kelly’s word at face value until they were confronted with zigzagging accounts of the events leading up to former staff secretary Rob Porter’s resignation—and Kelly’s role in them,” Politico reports.
“In the hours immediately after the Daily Mail published a photograph of Porter’s first ex-wife with a black eye, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders hastily arranged an off-the-record meeting in the West Wing with Porter and four reporters: the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, the Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey, Axios’ Jonathan Swan, and the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender,” Politico reveals. “In that meeting, which hasn’t previously been reported, Porter relayed his version of events and fielded questions from the group.”
The White House Chief of Staff, along with the White House press secretary, literally opened up the White House as a platform to support and defend a credibly accused wife beater.
Image by Dept. of Homeland Security via FlickrÂ
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