Since Rob Porter announced last week that he would resign as White House staff secretary following allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wives, chief of staff John Kelly came under scrutiny for the way he handled the allegations.
But Kelly told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that he’s satisfied with the way he handled the situation.
Asked if he should have approached the abuse allegations against Porter any differently, Kelly told the Wall Street Journal, “No.”
“It was all done right,” Kelly added.
Kelly reportedly knew about the abuse allegations from Porter’s two ex-wives before the women came forward with their accounts to the Daily Mail and the Intercept last week. However, the White House was slow to push Porter out of his position, first emphasizing that Porter made the decision to leave. As more details emerged, the White House moved up Porter’s exit.
White House officials suggested that they had been misled by Porter, who has denied the allegations in public and reportedly downplayed them to senior White House aides. White House spokesperson Raj Shah said Tuesday morning that Porter’s background check, which turned up the abuse allegations, was not completed as of Porter’s departure, suggesting that the administration was going through the proper procedures. However, FBI Director Christopher Wray undermined that narrative later on Tuesday when he said in a hearing that the FBI completed its background check in January, before the allegations against Porter became public.
