The scandal of Rob Porter, the former White House aide whose alleged history of domestic violence was recently uncovered, has become a question of who knew what and when. The White House’s claims that it was unaware of the allegations fell apart almost immediately. Now more word has come out that the FBI knew about the allegations against Porter barely a week after Trump took office.
CNN is reporting that Colbie Holderness, Porter’s ex-wife, provided the FBI with the photos published last week by the Daily Mail, and that makes it unlikely that the White House was not aware of the allegations (at least as far as Counsel Don McGahn’s office is concerned) against Porter by, at the earliest, March 2017:
“That isn’t reasonable,” national security expert Mark Zaid said of the idea that McGahn only learned about the photo when it was published. “I would be surprised that if in their partial report in March, the FBI either didn’t include the photo or, at a minimum, reference they had photographic evidence of the domestic assault…And I can’t fathom it not being part of the completed report” that the FBI delivered to the White House in July.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed ignorance of the allegations against Porter, but as the paper trail resolves, it’s clear that’s not the case. While the reaction of chief of staff John Kelly has come under scrutiny, it appears that ultimate responsibility lies increasingly with White House counsel Don McGahn. Questions have been raised over what, if anything, McGahn and his staff did when the allegations came to light. That remains to be seen, but it’s clear that this scandal is far from done.
(via CNN & Daily Mail)