House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) is none too pleased that the White House brushed off his requests for information on who knew what when in regards to the allegations of domestic abuse against Rob Porter by two of his ex-wives.
White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short blew off Gowdy’s pointed questions as well as the deadline he’d given for answers, responding in a letter received by the committee yesterday and first reported by TPM by repeating what the White House had said more than three weeks ago.
Gowdy’s staff fired back at White House officials for ignoring the chairman’s questions on why Porter was allowed to continue to work and to keep his access to highly classified information long after they knew of the allegations of spousal abuse, and why they falsely claimed they didn’t know until shortly before he was fired in February and what procedures for allowing temporary security clearances had been in the White House at the time.
“The Committee is in receipt of Mr. Short’s letter to the Committee dated March 8, 2018, including the memo made public on February 16, 2018. The Chairman finds the White House’s response inadequate, and we have communicated to the White House that we expect full compliance,” Oversight Committee spokeswoman Amanda Gonzalez emailed to TPM Friday evening. “We are in the process of scheduling a meeting between Chairman Gowdy and the White House to discuss next steps.”
The response suggests Gowdy is not ready to give up on this endeavor after letting the White House skate on some other major areas of concern. But it falls far short of Democrats’ demands that he subpoena the information the White House is refusing to provide, as well as call in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Counsel Don McGahn to explain what they knew and when. It’s unclear whether Gowdy would be willing to do so if the White House continues to stonewall him.
