Something doesn’t smell right. The Rob Porter saga is beginning to feel like a coverup.
The allegations only became public last week but the White House has known about the charges against Rob Porter since last July. Bloomberg is reporting the F.B.I. included the allegations in a background check on Porter. The White House has been struggling to get its story straight. Officials have said that background checks on him were ongoing.
Here’s where it gets strange. F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray told a Senate committee the bureau received a request for a “follow-up inquiry” and, according to the New York Times, provided more information about Mr. Porter’s background to the White House in November. Who asked for that information and why is unknown. Wray didn’t provide details. The F.B.I. closed the file in January, then received more information that was also passed along. That’s a lot different than Sarah Huckabee Sanders version. She said yesterday that the clearance review for Porter was never completed.
Axios is reporting that some in the West Wing are using Wray’s testimony against Chief of Staff John Kelly. One source told Axios: “Wray’s FBI timeline makes one thing clear: the Kelly coverup is unraveling right before our eyes.”
While Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to defend Porter, it was a different atmosphere in the White House during the last administration.
The Huffington Post reports Obama issued a memo saying the government “should act as a model in responding to the effects of domestic violence on its workforce.” He directed the government to issue guidance on addressing domestic violence in the federal workplace. That guidance remains in effect.