Donald Trump wants to bring the wife beater back into the White House. Because you know, THAT will make everything better.

Someday I want to grow up to be as big of an asshole to women as you are sir.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

President Trump has stayed in touch with Rob Porter, the former White House staff secretary who stepped down after allegations that he had abused his two former wives came to light, according to three people familiar with the conversations, and has told some advisers he hopes Mr. Porter returns to work in the West Wing. 

The president’s calls with Mr. Porter have increased in the last few weeks, as the number of people he is close to in the White House has dwindled because of the large number of staff departures, the people familiar with the calls said. 

In Mr. Trump’s orbit, few people are ever permanently exiled. He often sees aides who are subject to public criticism as extensions of himself, coming under fire because critics want to attack him, and he has described the Porter situation in those terms to some people, those briefed on the discussions said. 

The president has told the advisers he has talked with that he knows he probably cannot bring Mr. Porter back. But he has made clear that he misses the staff structure that Mr. Porter had helped build and implement, a White House official said, speaking on background because advisers were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Yes, well it's relatively easy to keep people in check if they think you will backhand them the minute they step out of line. 

His ex-wife certainly learned that the hard way.

Just the mere fact that Trump wants this asshole back in the White House essentially tells you all you need to know about his respect for women, his tolerance for abusive behaviors, and his growing desperation.

Aw, Hope Hicks and wife beater Rob Porter are no longer dating? Say it ain't so!

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former staff secretary Rob Porter are no longer dating, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the bygone relationship's status. 

One person close to Hicks told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the dating came to an end after Porter resigned last week when his two ex-wives came forward to accuse him of abuse. 

The revelations by DailyMail.com have set of a crisis in the White House over the handling of Porter's past. 

The pair were on their way to becoming a bona fide Washington power couple, as two of President Donald Trump's most trusted and closest aides. 

But their falling out was seen as inevitable, one West Wing aide said Wednesday, after Porter's two ex-wives accused him of spousal abuse. 

Gee, first Dakota Meyer and Bristol Palin call it quits, and now this?

It's like dysfunctional relationships just don't stand a chance anymore.

Trump's own FBI Director completely deflated the White House spin on Rob Porter.

Courtesy of TPM: 

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday appeared to contradict the Trump administration’s claims about the background investigation into a former White House staffer who left the administration last week amid allegations of domestic violence. 

Various outlets have reported that the FBI alerted the White House to the allegations of domestic violence made against former staff secretary Rob Porter by two ex-wives and an ex-girlfriend before those allegations were made public last week. The administration has said in its defense that Porter’s background check was incomplete at the time of his ouster, and that they wanted to allow the FBI to finish its investigation before passing judgement on Porter. 

But Wray’s account of the FBI’s communications with the Trump administration, told to the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, seemed to differ from the White House’s. 

“What I can tell you is that the FBI submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in March, and then a completed background investigation in late July,” he said, noting that the FBI “followed the established protocol” with Porter. 

“Soon thereafter we received requests for follow-up inquiry and we did the follow-up and provided that information in November. And then we administratively closed the file in January,” he continued. “And then earlier this month we received some additional information and we passed that on as well.”

This revelation caused Sarah Huckabee Sanders to start her spin cycle once again, only now she laid the blame on the White House personnel office, which she characterized as "career officials. " (That is clearly code for "deep state.")

Now as entertaining as all of this is, and it really is, there was also something else revealed during that hearing yesterday.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) appeared to surprise the witnesses by asking if Trump had specifically urged them to address the Russian threat. 

“I can’t say I’ve been specifically directed to blunt or actually stop” Russian influence efforts, NSA Director Mike Rogers replied. Rogers added that he considers it his agency’s job to gather intelligence for policymakers rather than act on it. 

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, appearing eager to defend Trump, said the president has generally asked the intelligence community to address threats, adding that the CIA takes “all kinds of steps to disrupt what the Russians are trying to do.” But he did not say that Trump has specifically directed the agency to prevent Russian interference. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he has not been “specifically directed by the president” to combat Russian meddling. Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, similarly said Trump has not urged him to address Russian meddling. Nor has Trump pressed for any interagency effort to combat Russian interference, Coats conceded. “We essentially are relying on the investigations that are underway,” he said.

During the hearing ALL of the intelligence chief's unanimously stated that Russia was continuing to meddle in our politics, and to engage in cyber attacks, and yet Trump has not only refused to personally direct the government to do anything about it, but has also refused to implement the sanctions that Congress overwhelmingly voted to put in place in order to punish them for what they have ALREADY done.

You know if you were trying to convince people that you were secretly working for the Kremlin, this is exactly how you would do that.

Even amid allegations of spousal abuse Rob Porter was in line for a promotion up until he abruptly resigned.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Rob Porter was involved in serious discussions to be promoted when he abruptly resigned from the White House last week amid allegations that he abused his two ex-wives, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. 

His anticipated elevation further highlights how top White House officials were willing to overlook indications from the FBI that there were potential abuse allegations in his background in exchange for professional competence in a tumultuous West Wing.

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.

He was also being considered for the deputy chief of staff position, another source familiar with the situation said. CNN reported Friday that Jim Carroll, who served as the deputy chief of staff for less than three months, was stepping down to helm the Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

Several White House officials, including chief of staff John Kelly, were receptive to promoting Porter. Kelly had told associates that Porter was one of the few competent professionals on his staff and wanted to ensure that he was being used to his full potential. CNN has reported that Kelly was aware for months of the potential that Porter's ex-wives could present damaging information on him. 

Kelly "definitely wanted to expand his role," a source familiar tells CNN.

Like I said it is likely a prerequisite for a job in this White House to be a predator.

And if you actually beat your wife, well hell that's a promotion!

It does not appear that Rob Porter and White House chief of staff John Kelly have the same story about Porter's resignation.

Courtesy of Axios:  

White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter is telling associates that some senior White House officials strongly encouraged him to "stay and fight," and claims he "never misrepresented anything" to Chief of Staff John Kelly. 

Why it matters: This White House has a culture problem, starting at the top. The natural instinct is to defend/deny and show scant, if any, concern for the women alleging misconduct and harm. And when the going gets tough internally, the other natural instinct is to blame everyone but yourself. 

It should be noted that Trump himself offered this reaction when asked about Porter's resignation:  

"I found out about it recently and I was surprised by it," Trump said. "We certainly wish him well. It's obviously a very tough time for him. He did a very good job while he was in the White House." 

"We hope that he will have a wonderful career," Trump added. 

Trump said "it was very sad when we heard about it." 

Trump focused on Porter's denial of the allegations that he struck his two-ex-wives while they were married. "He says he's innocent, and I think you have to remember that," Trump said. 

"He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent, but you'll have to talk to him about that."

So essentially Trump was insinuating that the women were liars, and seems very defensive about losing Porter.

But that is NOT the story that Kelly wants told about his reaction:

According to the member of Congress, giving the most detailed Kelly version of events so far: 

In Kelly’s telling, Porter misrepresented to him that the Daily Mail story would be about a messy marriage and divorce, with allegations of verbal and emotional abuse. 

Kelly specifically asked Porter about physical abuse of both ex-wives and girlfriends, and Porter denied that. 

Upon Porter’s denials, Kelly allowed the White House press team to write a statement giving a wholehearted endorsement of Porter as a man of great integrity. (This was Kelly’s initial statement.) 

Kelly is telling associates that only when the Daily Mail story published online on Tuesday night did he learn the real story. 

Kelly says he immediately took action: he confronted Porter, told him he had to resign, then called President Trump to inform him of his decision. This is what Kelly means when he tells colleagues he acted quickly and settled the matter within 40 minutes.

However it should be remembered that this was what Kelly said right after the story of Porter's spousal abuse became public:

"Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor and I can't say enough good things about him … I am proud to serve alongside him."

That does not sound like a man who "acted quickly" when he learned that his trusted subordinate had a history of beating the shit out of the women in his life.

By the way even some of Kelly's White House aides are calling bullshit on his version of events.

This Trump White House is almost literally bulging with habitual liars so it is almost impossible to discern who might be telling the truth at any given time.

But in this case I am thinking that Kelly is simply in CYA mode right now, and is lying his ass off to keep his job.

Another White House staffer resigned yesterday over accusations of spousal abuse.

David Sorensen

Courtesy of WaPo: 

A White House speechwriter resigned Friday after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent 2½ -year marriage — allegations that he vehemently denied, saying she was the one who victimized him. 

The abrupt departure of David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, came as The Washington Post was reporting on a story about abuse claims by his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett. Corbett told The Post that she described his behavior to the FBI last fall as the bureau was conducting a background check of Sorensen. 

White House officials said they learned of the accusations by Sorensen’s wife Thursday night, before The Post contacted the White House for comment. 

“We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today,” spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement Friday evening. 

In a text message to The Post, Sorensen said he stepped down because he “didn’t want the White House to have to deal with this distraction.”

"This distraction" being that he beat his wife?

I swear it is beginning to look as if one of the necessary prerequisites to working in this White House is that you had to have abused a spouse, sexually assaulted somebody, or had inappropriate contact with a child.

That may seem a little tongue in cheek, but it is actually supported by the facts.

Keep in mind that before this guy there was Corey Lewandowski, who was charged with assaulting a female reporter as well as sexual assault.

Steve Bannon, who was once charged with domestic violence by his former wife.

Trump's pick for  Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, who also charged with domestic violence.

Rob Porter who had to step down after being accused by both of his ex-wives of being a serial abuser.

And though he was not in the White House, Roy Moore was also a Trump favorite, even though he was credibly accused of sexual assault and of being a pedophile.

Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018

Of course perhaps the biggest abuser in the White House inner circle would be Trump himself, who has been accused of various kinds of abuse by no less than 18 women.

So yeah, one has to wonder if there is a box marked "sexual predator" on the White House application form, and if not filled in you might as well look for work elsewhere?

The parade that Donald Trump deserves.

The White House knew for a year that former staff secretary Rob Porter was a wife beater.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew one year ago that staff secretary Rob Porter’s ex-wives were prepared to make damaging accusations about him but allowed him to serve as an influential gatekeeper and aide to President Trump without investigating the accusations, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Chief of Staff John F. Kelly learned this fall about the allegations of spousal abuse and that they were delaying Porter’s security clearance amid an ongoing FBI investigation. But Kelly handed Porter more responsibilities to control the flow of information to the president. 

Porter, who denied the “vile” allegations, resigned Wednesday after the ex-wives’ accounts of years of verbal and physical abuse were published, along with graphic pictures of Colbie Holderness, his first wife, bruised from what she said was a punch to the face. 

The episode has thrust Trump’s senior-most aides, many of whom have already been embroiled in controversy related to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, into yet another crisis. 

McGahn and other West Wing officials are under increasing pressure to explain why Porter was kept in a key role in which he had access to classified information and helped determine which articles and policy proposals made it to the president’s desk while top Trump officials were aware for months of at least some of the serious allegations against him.

Not only is it upsetting to learn that the Trump White House did not seem to have a problem with a serial abuser, during yesterday's White House press conference we learned that if one of Porter's victims had not provided photographic evidence that he would likely still have a job.

Get a load of this.

As you can see around the 3:25 mark a reporter asks White House spokesman Raj Shah what changed about their understanding of the charges besides the photographic evidence, and while Shah attempts to skirt that question, his response makes it clear that the photos are what really doomed Porter.

Which essentially means that this White House does not believe women when they make accusations of physical abuse or sexual assault, unless they provide pictures.

So by those standards when it comes to the many Trump accusers the official defense would be "pictures, or it didn't happen."