Trump's chief of staff John Kelly faces calls to resign over handling of abuse allegations - Independent

11/2/2018

Trump's chief of staff John Kelly faces calls to resign over handling of abuse allegations

Mounting questions about when top official knew of claims against former White House aide Rob Porter

Jeremy B White San Francisco

Multiple elected officials have called for Donald Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, to resign amid a mounting backlash to the White House’s handling of domestic violence allegations against a top aide.

The former White House staff secretary, Rob Porter, resigned this week after it publicly emerged that multiple ex-wives had accused him of abuse. Mr Porter has called those accusations “outrageous” and “false”, saying in a statement: “I have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign.”

The Trump administration has faced amplifying questions about when officials became aware of the allegations against Mr Porter, with multiple reports that chief of staff John Kelly knew Mr Porter would be denied a permanent security clearance.

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Amid evidence that senior officials kept Mr Porter on despite the allegations against him, calls for Mr Kelly to step aside began surfacing.

New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich said on Twitter that if the reports were true, "he should resign immediately".

Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, said on Twitter: “Domestic violence is a serious issue & Chief of Staff John Kelly should resign for mishandling it.”

Mr Kelly has also faced condemnation for initially responding to the allegations against Mr Porter with a statement lauding him as a “man of true integrity and honour”, later releasing a follow-up statement saying he was “shocked” by the allegations against Mr Porter and saying “there is no place for domestic violence in our society”.

Tapped as chief of staff to help bring order to a White House riven by internal conflict and high turnover, Mr Kelly — a retired general — initially drew praise for helping to instil more stability.

But his remarks have also set off fresh controversy, including when he made a false accusation against a Congresswoman who had amplified a war widow’s criticism of Mr Trump and, earlier this week, when he said some immigrants were “too lazy to get off their asses” and apply for legal status.

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The President also helped fuel the outcry when he reacted to Mr Porter’s departure with mostly praise, saying the situation was “very sad” but that Mr Porter “did a very good job”.

“We hope he has a wonderful career,” Mr Trump said, adding that “you have to remember that he said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent”.