Here’s what a good old boys network looks like: Rob Porter, Donald Trump’s staff secretary, resigned after reports surfaced that he’d abused both of his ex-wives. Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly knew about a 2010 protective order against Porter by wife number two, which prevented Porter from getting the security clearance he should have needed to do his job, but Kelly did his best to stand by Porter until public outrage forced him to change his tune. Porter’s resignation, which was initially on a “sometime, eventually” kind of basis, abruptly changed on Wednesday night to a tomorrow (Thursday) kind of thing, and Kelly had to back off his glowing description of Porter.
Kelly—who, again, knew about the 2010 protective order and who was reportedly one of several White House officials to know about the allegations before they were reported in the media—responded to the first stories about Porter’s history of abuse by saying:
“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor, and I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him,” Kelly told the Daily Mail. The White House sent reporters the same statement again on Wednesday.
So you can beat your wives and still be a man of true integrity and honor, according to John Kelly. As long as you’re a white Republican man with a square jaw, anyway. John Kelly was proud to serve alongside a man who did this to his first wife:
‘He would throw me down on the bed, then put his full body weight on top of me, then grind a knee or elbow into my body, expressing rage.’ […]
The violence escalated to where Porter was choking his wife.
‘It was not hard enough for me to pass out but it was scary, humiliating and dehumanizing,’ she said.