One of the most important players in the Trump White House is resigning from his job as White House staff secretary amid accusations of abuse – a job Rob Porter got even though one of his ex-wives told the FBI about the charges during his background search. Thus it’s impossible to miss the fact that the Trump White House is staffed by men who abuse women.
It is so acceptable within the Trump administration that Chief of Staff John Kelly and other senior administration officials reportedly urged Rob Porter not to quit over the multiple allegations and pictures of his alleged abuse of his ex wives.
Here are some of Donald Trump’s campaign and White House inner circle who have been accused of violence against women:
Corey Lewandowski, charged but not prosecuted with battery, “Police in Jupiter, Fla. have charged Donald Trump’s campaign manager with battery for allegedly grabbing a reporter for Breitbart news following a Trump campaign rally earlier this month.”
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Trump’s Secretary of Labor pick Andrew Puzder has a history of misogyny and as a leader in the anti-women’s freedom movement, and his ex-wife accused him of assault, with Politico obtaining a 1988 petition that provided previously unreported details of the alleged abuse, including that he “assaulted and battered [her] by striking her violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders, and neck, without provocation or cause,” and that as a consequence she “suffered severe and permanent injuries.â€
Trump’s Senior White House Chief Strategist was Steve Bannon, a man whose wife accused him of grabbing her by the neck.
Were this just one person, it might be easy to wave away as an oversight. But MSNBC Justice and Security Analyst Matthew Miller raised the point: how did Porter get there in the first place when one of his ex wives told the Daily Mail about the allegations during his background check.
But how did he get there in the first place, if his ex-wives told the FBI about the allegations during his background check, as one of them told the Daily Mail? https://t.co/ZrGkY1vfxl
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) February 7, 2018
To which Former Director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub reminded everyone that this is the same White House who asked why the DOJ cared that Trump’s then National Security Advisor Mike Flynn made false statements.
Well, let's not forget that this is the White House whose top attorney asked Sally Yates why DOJ cares if the National Security Advisor made false statements. Anything goes until the outside world finds out. https://t.co/mxO8QmU0o9
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 7, 2018
That same wife doesn’t seem to have a vendetta against Porter even though she got a protection order against him in 2010, telling the Daily Mail that he is right for his job and she wants him there, “‘I want to be very clear when I say this,’ Jennifer Willoughby, the second wife, said. ‘I don’t want to be married to him. I would not recommend anyone to date him or marry him. But I definitely want him in the White House and the position he is in. I think his integrity and ability to do his job is impeccable. And the majority of the issues he suffers from are very personal and intimate.'”
Willoughby told the DailyMail “that Porter called her last year and demanded she take down her blog posts that referred to their marriage – she did not name him.
He asked her what she had told the FBI about their relationship during her interview with the agency over his security clearance in February 2017.
She said that his first wife was also interviewed.”
That interrogation and the subsequent demands sound a lot like Trump’s attitude toward the FBI and former FBI Director James Comey. It hints at what the people who have been directly intimidated and harassed into silence by this administration know: This is how they operate. And it is illegal.
An appalling lack of ethics and a feeling of entitlement to break the law and abuse women are a pattern in the Trump White House. It is the White House of slimy, back alley mafia-wannabe types and the buttoned up men who benefit from their stupidity and arrogance.
That’s what the Trump White House is. Abuse of women is not a problem for them – it’s not a reason not to hire someone. Perhaps, given the President’s own history of being accused of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and assault, it is a bonus on one’s resume.
The next time a Republican mocks women for marching against this administration or wearing a p*ssy hat to symbolize their right not to be grabbed by odious men like Donald Trump, remember that women know.
They know.
And here what they know is playing out exactly as anticipated. The men who are in charge of the upholding the law – laws meant to protect women- are predators who abuse women and get away with it to such an extent that they got into the White House, even with a background check.
The personal is political. Men who abuse women should not be in charge of laws and policy making, because they are not upholding the law and don’t value women’s rights not to be abused and assaulted.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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