A Scandal That Exposes the White House’s ‘Adults’
On Friday, as the White House rushed to quell increasing anger about the exit of staff secretary Rob Porter and its handling of domestic violence, President Trump stoked the controversy, suggesting he believed Porter’s denials, despite photographic evidence.
“We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it's a tough time for him,” Trump said, in his first comments about Porter’s departure. “As you probably know says he's innocent and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent so you have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was at the White House.”
The president did not offer any sympathy for Porter’s victims.
Trump’s reaction conflicts with the White House’s attempts to control the damage from Porter’s departure, amid accusations of physical and verbal abuse from two ex-wives. On Friday morning, Chief of Staff John Kelly in which he tried to portray the White House as taking accusations of domestic assault seriously, and argued (against all evidence) that he had
