'As Bad as the Comey Firing': White House Enters Second Week of the Rob Porter 'Sh*t Show'
For an administration used to epic scandals, this has been one of the worst.
LACHLAN MARKAY, ASAWIN SUEBSAENG, SAM STEIN
02.13.18 9:15 PM ET
To work in the Donald Trump White House is to careen from one scandal or self-inflicted catastrophe to the next. But few weeks of this year-old administration have been as fraught as the past seven days, aides say.
Few recall similar levels of chaos engulfing the ranks. What’s worse: Multiple senior West Wing officials have conveyed privately to The Daily Beast their fear that the ongoing Rob Porter scandal, and the intense fallout implicating top staffers, will only get worse in the days to come.
“As bad as the Comey firing,” one White House official bluntly assessed, expressing a sentiment shared this week by several senior Trump aides—that the tumult and mismanagement of the past few days is only matched by mayhem kicked off by the sacking of FBI Director James Comey in May.
Such angst echoes an even more troublesome reality playing out of public view. Aides and confidants say that trust between the internal White House departments has been damaged by the failure to adequately explain why Porter—who stands accused by two ex-wives of physical and emotional abuse—was able to stay on the job for as long as he did. There are persistent rumors that the news of Porter’s past alleged abuses was initially leaked to the press by someone inside the administration. And though the White House publicly insists that Chief of Staff John Kelly enjoys the trust and faith of the president, there are notable rumblings of discontent over his handling of the matter, in and outside of the administration.
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/as-bad-as-the-comey-firing-post-rob-porter-the-trump-white-house-is-drowning-in-backbiting-chaos-and-blame?ref=home
