Rob Porter was so exemplary, he was up for a promotion. That news came just after FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed Tuesday during testimony that the White House knew for months about the former staff secretary’s history of domestic violence. Nonetheless, he was in “serious discussions” to take on bigger roles in Donald Trump’s West Wing, writes CNN:
Porter had been actively lobbying to take on new policy portfolios outside the traditional scope of the staff secretary, one person familiar with the matter said, which included speechwriting duties and a role in planning policy rollouts. Neither of those tasks is traditionally carried out by the staff secretary.
One of the areas Porter was set to delve further into was trade policy, according to the person. Porter was a regular attendee at a weekly trade meeting among top-level administration officials.
He was also being considered for the deputy chief of staff position, another source familiar with the situation said.
John Kelly was reportedly one of Porter’s biggest fans and wanted to be sure he was “being used to his full potential.”
Kelly “definitely wanted to expand his role,” a source familiar tells CNN.
Trump will almost surely have someone’s head over this, as he doesn’t look kindly on bad press generated by others. He prefers being he sole source of his own humiliation.
As the fallout from the Porter scandal has stretched into a new week at the White House, a frustrated President Donald Trump has spent his days phoning allies and associates for advice on how to handle negative coverage, sources familiar with the conversations say.
Trump’s also got that sads that the main focus of his “agenda” might be hampered by the exit of key abusers on his staff.
He is particularly concerned with advancing his immigration proposals, a policy objective that has been helmed by Kelly.
And by “immigration proposals,” he means “deportations.”