Everything you need to know about the domestic abuse scandal that’s plaguing Trump’s White House By Daniel Dale Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON—Most Trump administration scandals recedequickly from the spotlight. This one has stuck.
The White House’s comprehensive mishandling of the spousal abuse allegations against Rob Porter, a top aide who resigned last week, has turned into one of the longest-running controversies of President Donald Trump’s year-old tenure.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday. Trump’s White House has this week been consumed by it’s response to spousal abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter. (OLIVIER DOULIERY / TNS)
U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday. Trump’s White House has this week been consumed by it’s response to spousal abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter. (OLIVIER DOULIERY / TNS)
The crisis deepened on Tuesday, a week after the story broke, when FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed the FBI completed its background check on Porter in July and closed the file entirely in January — thus dismantling the claim, from both Trump’s press secretary and deputy press secretary, that the administration had not acted earlier to dismiss Porter because the background check “hadn’t been completed.”
The Porter scandal is basically three scandals in one. The first: the administration continued to employ someone, in a sensitive post, when top officials knew he was accused of domestic violence and thus could not secure a full security clearance. The second: top officials, and the president himself, expressed support for a man accused of domestic violence. The third: top officials have been dishonest about what they knew when and what they did in response.
Here’s what you need to know about the still-evolving saga:
Who is Rob Porter? Why does he matter?
Porter, a former chief of staff to Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, was Trump’s staff secretary. That position has a low public profile, but it’s high-level: Porter, a 40-year-old Rhodes Scholar, was in charge of managing the flow of documents to the president’s desk. He regularly travelled with Trump, and he was given extra responsibilities like helping to draft the State of the Union. He was also dating communications director Hope Hicks.
What is Porter alleged to have done?
Porter’s two ex-wives have said he abused them physically and emotionally. Colbie Holderness, his first wife, said he kicked her, punched her in the eye, and choked her. She has released photos of her injured face from the incident in which she said he punched her.
Jennifer Willoughby, his second wife, said he punched in the glass on her front door while they were separated after extensive emotional abuse. She obtained a temporary protective order against him in 2010.
In a 2016 message to Willoughby, an ex-girlfriend of Porter who has declined to be publicly named alleged “repeated abuse” by him.
Porter has denied all of the allegations, calling them a “co-ordinated smear campaign.”
How did the White House respond to the allegations?
At first, top officials defended Porter. Then they oscillated between condemnation, contrition, and defiance — along with the dishonesty we’ll get into later.
After being told of the details of the allegations about to break last Tuesday night in the Daily Mail, chief of staff John Kelly issued a statement vigorously supporting Porter. Kelly said: “Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor, and I can’t say enough good things about him.”
The defence continued even after Porter announced his resignation on Wednesday. Press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement saying Trump and Kelly both had “full confidence” in Porter’s “abilities.” Later Wednesday, Kelly issued a statement decrying domestic violence but adding, “I stand by my previous comments of the Rob Porter that I have come to know since becoming Chief of Staff.”
Trump weighed in himself on Friday — and said nothing about the alleged victims or violence against women generally. Instead, he expressed sympathy for Porter, saying it’s “obviously a tough time for him” and emphasizing that “he says he’s innocent.”
Sanders then insisted that Trump has made clear he deplores domestic violence — but he has never said so himself. And while deputy press secretary Raj Shah acknowledged “we all could have done better,” Kelly told the Wall Street Journal on Monday: “It was all done right.”
How have they been dishonest about the situation?
Virtually nothing about the White House’s timeline of events has proven accurate.
Kelly claimed he took decisive action to remove Porter “40 minutes” after learning of the allegations. But Politico reported that the White House arranged an off-the-record briefing for Porter to defend himself to top reporters on Wednesday, the day after the story broke, and even after Holderness released the photo of her black eye. Sanders later conceded that Porter was not terminated, nor even “pressured” to do so, but made his resignation decision “on his own.”
Even more significant than what happened last week is what happened in the preceding 11 months.
