At the daily White House press briefing, the White House falsely claimed that Chief of Staff John Kelly knew nothing about Rob Porter’s domestic violence against his two ex-wives.
Video:
The White House was flat out lying when they claimed John Kelly didn't know anything about Rob Porter's domestic violence. pic.twitter.com/MRjC1gCYrs
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 8, 2018
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Here is a transcript of the exchange between Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah and a reporter:
Q: I want to clarify what you’re saying here. Are you saying that the chief of staff of this white house had no idea rob porter’s two ex-wives had domestic violence allegations against them when they made those claims to the FBI, that John Kelly did not know that? How is that possible that the chief of staff did not know that?
Shah: Again, this is part of an ongoing investigation. We trust the background check process. The chief of staff does not get detailed updates about what may or may not have been alleged. This is a process that involves thorough investigation. As I went through the process, it involves looking at not just accusations but denials.
This story by the White House is a lie. The White House, including Kelly, knew for months about the allegations:
I think the translation of this is White House officials knew about Porter allegations "for months" but didn't know there were pictures. pic.twitter.com/yiG66cqdOj
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 7, 2018
The White House’s defense is to claim that the security clearance for Porter was the FBI’s fault, also insisting that Trump’s chief of staff knew nothing. Trump’s White House has established a pattern of behavior of causing a crisis for itself with their own behavior and then showing a complete ineptitude when it comes to cleaning up their own mess.
Trump’s White House thought that they could away with having a serial domestic abuser in a senior position. They got caught, and now they are in freefall. The circle of corruption, criminality, and incompetence never stops with this administration.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association