Rob Porter's abuse scandal is roiling the White House to its core, and the knives are coming out for John Kelly

The Rob Porter scandal has shaken the White House.
It appears as if knives are out for the chief of staff, John Kelly.
Many questions remain about who knew what — and when — about Porter, whom two ex-wives have accused of physical and emotional abuse.
The White House acknowledged it could've handled its response to the episode better.

The latest White House scandal has snowballed into an avalanche, roiling some of the highest-ranking and most prominent West Wing staffers in the process.

The White House initially stood by its staff secretary, Rob Porter, after he was accused of physically and emotionally abusing his two ex-wives, one of whom released photos of a black eye she says he gave her. Publicly, the administration even offered rare contrition for its handling of the situation.

"I think it's fair to say that we all could have done better over the last few hours — or last few days — in dealing with this situation," said Raj Shah, a White House deputy press secretary.

But questions abounded about who knew what — and when — as the White House fumbled its response.

The focus now lies on Porter's inability to obtain a full security clearance and on when the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, and other top officials were first made aware of the allegations, which Porter has denied.

Porter's exit on Wednesday means one of the most powerful members of the West Wing inner circle tasked with a broad range of critical responsibilities — and whom one Republican strategist labeled "indispensable" — will need to be replaced.

Kellys enemies now want to get rid of him

Porter and Kelly clearly saw eye to eye on how to run the White House. But as knives start to come out for Kelly, the chance that this scandal could knock out both the forces that many credit with bringing a sense of stability to the administration is growing.

Multiple outlets reported Wednesday that several top officials, including Kelly, were aware of the allegations against Porter for months but that Trump learned of them this week.

The officials were reportedly aware as early as August that the allegations were preventing Porter from obtaining a security clearance. Porter's ex-wives said they had told the FBI about their allegations during his security-clearance review.

But no action was taken, and Porter's importance only grew in the administration. CNN reported he was one of a handful of aides who helped draft Trump's State of the Union address.

Multiple high-ranking politicians have called for Kelly's ouster as chief of staff.

"If it is true that President Trump's Chief of Staff John Kelly covered up Staff Secretary Rob Porter's record of domestic violence then he should resign immediately," Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich tweeted.

Sen. Jon Tester, a fellow Democrat, told CNN that if Kelly "is covering this up, he needs to be held accountable."

"He better have a really good reason," Tester said. "Otherwise, he's gone, too."

Mackowiak said it "would be a mistake" to oust Kelly, who he said has "done a great job under very difficult circumstances."

But if Kelly were "

How did Porter manage without a permanent security clearance?

After the most recent major White House staff shakeup over the summer, Porter emerged as a power player in the administration.

Though he had served in the White House since the onset of Trump's term, Porter's profile began to rise once Kelly took over in July, becoming the chief of staff's right hand.

He was tasked with vetting and filtering what reached Trump's desk, as well as playing an increasingly large role in the administration's policy agenda.

For months, Porter kept a low profile in a White House filled with outsize personalities, though roughly a half-dozen former Senate colleaguestold Business Insider in Septemberthat many on Capitol Hill were thrilled that Porter was working within the administration.

Porter, a Rhodes scholar who attended Harvard with Kushner, was close with Reince Priebus, Trump's former chief of staff, from his time at the Republican National Committee. Porter also previously served in the offices of Republican Sens. Mike Lee, Rob Portman, and Orrin Hatch.

But for as indispensable as Porter had become, his inability to obtain a full security clearance left observers stunned that he was able to remain in that position — one which involves frequent viewing of classified material.

Shah, the White House spokesman, said Porter was operating on an interim clearance while his background investigation was ongoing. Still, the idea that Porter could go about his job on an interim clearance left Mackowiak puzzled.

Will they be able to replace Porter without losing a step? Rick Tyler, former communications director for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign, thinks so.

The entire ordeal lead to a rare admission of fault by the White House.

During what has become a typically untypical White House press briefing, Shah had to answer for staffers such as White House communications director Hope Hicks and White House counsel Donald McGahn, who find themselves caught up in the ordeal as well.

Shah was asked in rapid fire succession about whether the president still had confidence in any of these officials.

Kelly?

"Yes," Shah said.

McGahn?

"Absolutely."

Hicks?

"Yeah, absolutely."

Everyone?

Shah reiterated his earlier points.

"The president has confidence in his chief of staff, counsel, and communications director," he said.