John Kelly says White House staff "didn't cover ourselves in glory" in handling Rob Porter situation
White House chief of staff told reporters Friday White House staffers "didn't cover ourselves in glory" in their handling of the Rob Porter situation. But Kelly said there was "nothing to even consider resigning over," despite criticism of his handling of the situation.
Porter left the White House last month after allegations surfaced that he abused his two ex-wives. The admission of a less-than-ideal handling of the situation is a reverse from when Kelly told the Wall Street Journal last month the handling of the allegations "was all done right."
Kelly, speaking to reporters, went into further detail than he has in the past about his role in the situation. Kelly addressed a question about why the White House read a statement saying the "president and chief of staff have had full confidence and trust" in Porter's abilities, despite the accusations, on Wednesday. The first allegations against Porter broke publicly the night before, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Daily Mail.
"We didn't cover ourselves with glory in terms of how we handled that on Wednesday morning," Kelly said Friday, calling the time "confusing."
CBS News has reported Kelly was made aware there were issued with Porter's clearance in November, as White House counsel Don McGahn alerted him. Porter warned McGahn in January of last year that there could be issued with his clearance application.
Kelly claimed he first heard a "serious accusation" about Porter on Tuesday, Feb. 6, late in the afternoon, before the Daily Mail published its first story alleging domestic abuse that evening. The Daily Mail claims it explained the allegations in detail before publishing.
"There was no story out yet," Kelly said. "It was simply the press people came in and said we are getting an inquiry on this story and the story was that a wife had claimed that she had had some level of emotional abuse that was, I want to say 5 p.m. I then went to Capitol Hill to have a meeting with – on DACA. Boy, where did that go, ha ha ha. Anyway, I got back here. 6, 6:30pm and another press report. Not a press report but inquiry about a second wife had made accusations and included physical abuse and um, and uh, talked to Rob and he resigned. That was maybe 7:30pm on the 6th of February."
Kelly was pressed further on the timeline.
"Well, if you look specifically about Rob, the first I heard of a serious accusation against him was on the 6th of February," Kelly said. "The accusation was late in the afternoon and it was simply one of his two former wives had — and this was coming from the press. One of you asked Sarah (Sanders), so that's how I found out."
Last month, CBS News reported that White House counsel Don McGahn had told Kelly that there was an issue related to Porter's clearance a few months earlier, in November 2017. But he was vague about the allegations against Porter.
The Porter situation prompted Kelly to overhaul the White House security clearance system, which included the clearance downgrade of Trump son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.