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White House Regrets Its Handling of Rob Porter Case: ‘We All Could Have Done Better’ White House Regrets Its Handling of Rob Porter Case: ‘We All Could Have Done Better’
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — White House officials conceded Thursday that they regretted the way they handled accusations against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned Wednesday after two former wives publicly accused him of abusing them. But they refused to provide any information about when President Trump’s most senior advisers first learned about the episodes.WASHINGTON — White House officials conceded Thursday that they regretted the way they handled accusations against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned Wednesday after two former wives publicly accused him of abusing them. But they refused to provide any information about when President Trump’s most senior advisers first learned about the episodes.
Mr. Porter abruptly departed the West Wing on Thursday afternoon, one day after John F. Kelly, the chief of staff, and other senior officials had issued statements defending him. Mr. Porter abruptly departed the West Wing on Thursday afternoon, one day after John F. Kelly, the chief of staff, and other senior officials had issued statements defending him and said they would prefer that he remain in his post.
He left behind questions about whether Mr. Kelly and other members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle had been willing to ignore serious episodes of domestic violence to protect a trusted aide who had denied they ever happened and about how Mr. Porter could have continued in his job when it was known that his permanent high-level security clearance had been held up. Among the questions he left behind was whether Mr. Kelly and other members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle had been willing to ignore serious allegations of domestic violence to protect a trusted aide. Raj Shah, the deputy White House, said that Mr. Kelly had not been made “fully aware” of them until this week. But two people close to the White House said that Mr. Kelly and Joe Hagin, the deputy chief of staff for operations, as well as Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, had known of the issues since late fall.
“I think it’s fair to say we all could have done better dealing with this over the last few days,” said Raj Shah, the deputy White House press secretary, during a briefing with reporters that was dominated by questions about Mr. Porter. It was unclear whether they knew the extent of the women’s allegations, though one former senior American official said White House officials had been aware in August that the issue was preventing Mr. Porter from obtaining the security clearance he was seeking. Mr. Shah said that Mr. Porter had been operating with an “interim clearance,” which it is customary for top White House officials to receive while the F.B.I. conducts a thorough check of their backgrounds.
Mr. Porter was trusted by Mr. Kelly as a crucial ally in bringing order and discipline to a White House full of political and policy novices, and he was regarded as an even-tempered check on the volatile tendencies of the president and some of his other aides. During a briefing for reporters that was dominated by questions about Mr. Porter, Mr. Shah described the accusations against his former colleague as “unsettling” for the White House.
Mr. Shah called the accusations against him “upsetting,” and said that Mr. Kelly had not been made “fully aware” of them until this week. But two people close to the White House said that Mr. Kelly and Joe Hagin, the deputy chief of staff for operations, as well as Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, had known of the issues since late fall. “I think it’s fair to say we all could have done better over the few hours or last few days in dealing with this situation,” Mr. Shah said.
It was unclear whether they knew the extent of the women’s allegations, though one former senior American official said White House officials had been aware in August that the issue was preventing Mr. Porter from obtaining the security clearance he was seeking. Mr. Porter was seen as a crucial ally in bringing order and discipline to a White House full of political and policy novices, and as an even-tempered check on the volatile tendencies of the president and some of his other aides. The office of the staff secretary puts together the president’s briefing book every day, as well as memorandums for scheduled meetings.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity about a delicate topic that they were not authorized to discuss. During the Obama administration, the president would also receive a set of briefing and decisional memos most nights.
Jennifer Willoughby, one of Mr. Porter’s former wives, said in an interview that in September, Mr. Porter had told her that White House officials had informed him his security clearance “had not gone through.” “This required our team to review highly classified material for the president on a daily basis,” said Joani Walsh, who served as President Barack Obama’s staff secretary. Like others in the office, Ms. Walsh had a clearance that allowed her to see top secret and sensitive compartmentalized information, usually called “TS/SCI clearance.” Officials who hold the post also typically have code-word clearance to handle the country’s most closely guarded secrets.
Ms. Willoughby, who said Mr. Porter abused her during their marriage, said “someone had told him that there was a violent allegation and that was what was holding it up.” The White House did not address on Thursday how Mr. Porter could have served in that role given that the top security clearance his job requires had been held up because the F.B.I. had learned of the allegations by his former wives.
Jennifer Willoughby, his second wife, said in an interview that in September, Mr. Porter had told her that White House officials had informed him his security clearance “had not gone through.” She said he told her that “someone had told him that there was a violent allegation and that was what was holding it up.”
Both Ms. Willoughby and Colbie Holderness, Mr. Porter’s first wife, said on Thursday that they had first been interviewed by F.B.I. officials last January, soon after Mr. Porter joined the Trump administration.
Ms. Holderness said Mr. Porter tried to work through an intermediary to discourage her from divulging his violent behavior. She said he had dispatched a mutual acquaintance last January to approach her husband, Skiffington Holderness.
According to an email Mr. Holderness sent to the F.B.I., Mr. Porter’s friend had told him that it was “good” that Ms. Holderness was not initially thinking about speaking with the F.B.I.
“Rob isn’t lying; that women around town lie because they are ‘crazy’ and jealous,” Mr. Holderness said the man told him, according to the email, which was obtained by The New York Times.
After their initial interviews with officials last January, both Ms. Willoughby and Ms. Holderness said that they did not hear from the F. B. I. agent who had handled their case again until September.
At that point, the agent emailed Ms. Willoughby for permission to access a restraining order she’d filed against Mr. Porter in 2010, the agent wrote, “in furtherance of the background investigation.” At Thursday’s news briefing, Mr. Shah said the investigation had continued since January 2017 until this week, when Mr. Porter left the White House.
The photos that Mr. Shah said had “saddened” Mr. Trump and ultimately led White House officials to back away from Mr. Porter were in the F.B.I.’s possession over a year ago. In an email dated Jan. 27, 2017. Ms. Holderness sent the F.B.I. agent who had interviewed her a set of four photographs that showed her with a blacks eye that said s Mr. Porter had given her. She followed with another email containing more photos of her swollen eye, which she said she suffered while the couple took a trip abroad.
Rob Cromwell, a former senior F.B.I. agent who oversaw all background investigations for the bureau, including those at the White House, said it would be highly unusual for the agency not to have informed the White House of such allegations.
“A serious allegation like that? The F.B.I. would notify the White House right away,” Mr. Cromwell said. “You’re having a person exposed to classified material, and that’s a risk. The customer is notified, and the customer, in this case, is the White House.”
Mr. Porter would also have been required to disclose the allegations on the standard form, known as the SF-86, that government employees are required to complete to serve in a national security position. The form asks about specific arrests, charges, convictions and protective orders currently in effect, and then makes an open-ended request for the applicant to disclose any “public record civil court action” in which they have been involved in the past 10 years. If the F.B.I. becomes aware that someone has lied on the form or omitted responsive information, it can be disqualifying.
Even as Mr. Porter’s former wives publicly pressed their accusations against him publicly, a newer love interest, Hope Hicks, the White House communications, who he has been dating, met with other White House officials n drafting the initial statements sent in Mr. Porter’s defense, according to two West Wing officials.
When the allegations first surfaced, Mr. Kelly and others issued fulsome statements of support for their colleague. The White House spent most of Wednesday defending Mr. Porter even as he announced his resignation, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary, saying the president and Mr. Kelly both had “full confidence in his abilities and his performance.”
It was only hours later on Wednesday night that Mr. Kelly issued a new statement saying he had been “shocked by the new allegations” against Mr. Porter.
“This required our team to review highly classified material for the president on a daily basis,” Ms. Walsh said. Like others in the office, Ms. Walsh had a clearance that allowed her to see top secret and sensitive compartmentalized information, usually called “TS/SCI clearance.” Officials who hold the post also typically have code-word clearance, to handle the nation’s most closely guarded secrets.