White House Chief of Staff and formerly respected General but now revealed racist & misogynist tRump soul mate is being raked over the coals. As well he should be. The outrages of the past couple of days are only additions to the staggering lack of honor and decency in the man. If as I think will happen he loses his job because he’s making his boss look to bad I won’t shed any tears for him. Even though we once wore the same uniform as far as I’m concerned he has disgraced the Corps and having risen to full General (four stars) the entire Armed Forces.
But in all the furor surrounding Kelly which has gotten into details about “what he knew and when he knew it” we must remember he didn’t become Chief of Staff until last summer. As has been noted it defies belief that he didn’t inquire as to why a guy he pegged for great things (now former Staff Secretary Rob Porter) hadn’t gotten a full & permanent security clearance by the time he (Kelly) took over as Chief of Staff. Surely he checked with White House Counsel Don McGahn or at least the Counsel’s Office and was told he’d better talk with the FBI. I don’t buy that it wasn’t until November that Kelly got all the details from the FBI. There’s been reporting that he probably learned the ugly details about his new “fair haired protégé” back in August. That would make a lot more since on any timeline of events given when Kelly moved from DHS to the White House.
However as the title of this diary suggests an important point is being lost in all the discussion.
Rob Porter became Staff Secretary on the day tRump was Inaugurated. It’s known that on Jan. 27 the FBI knew about the abuse allegations from Porter’s ex-wives which means his background investigation was under way before he assumed his job in the White House. It would surely have been underway (since he’d been chosen for that key position) by early January, 2017 and more likely the background check started in late 2016. My point though is that a week into his new job the FBI was in possession of credible information (including that picture) and statements from those Porter abused that would mean he’d never be approved by the FBI for a security clearance, much less the top level one his job requires.
Here’s a quick primer for those who don’t know how the process works. Especially for Top Secret (and above, such as for TS Special Access or TS Sensitive Compartmented/SCI) clearance the process takes a long time. Often the better part of a year although for some jobs (like key White House jobs) it’s assumed that vetting by those who recommend people for important jobs was solid enough that an “Interim Clearance” is granted. And for the really high level/key positions the investigation’s priority is high enough that unless there are issues enough investigative resources (Special Agents conducting field interviews, FBI staff collecting/reviewing documents, etc.) that the process often can be done in three or four months max.
But again I want to note things start with the presumption that people appointed to certain jobs were vetted enough that no obvious concerns popped up. In any case, with Porter once the FBI had talked with the ex wives and had other documentation they knew right then and there that it was highly unlikely Porter would ever “pass” his background investigation and be granted a clearance.
However there’s another step that’s not gotten much mention on TV but is crucial. When you apply for a clearance it’s explained how important it is to be as forthcoming as possible including noting anything that might cast doubt on whether you should be granted a clearance. I recall the way it was put to me (two times, many years apart) which was that if you are upfront about potential issues you stand a much better chance of getting your clearance than if you lie/omit information on your SF-86. Those doing the investigations (in this case the FBI) do allow for how complicated it can be and that people can make inadvertent mistakes/omissions. Whether it appears to be something like that, or something more serious as was the case with Porter (and it appears investigators were told that Porter might be vulnerable to blackmail — big problem!) if the FBI uncovers something that’s an issue or flat out problem they will go back to the person applying for the clearance and ask them to explain. Sometimes they can clear a matter up and their clearance process gets completed with a favorable recommendation. And sometimes not. If someone withheld potentially disqualifying information on their initial application the odds are overwhelming that a person won’t get any benefit of the doubt and be granted a security clearance.
Got that? IOW, upon learning something (wife beating) that would disqualify anyone from getting a clearance the FBI would have gone directly to Porter and questioned him about what his ex-wives had told them, and they’d also go over the information they had — which in this case included statements from both ex-wives, pictures and police/court records and also statements from others who would back up what the ex-wives had told them. In a normal background investigation for some average person in the typical job that requires clearance (like I once was) if there were issues to be resolved it wouldn’t normally take place until near the end of the process. IOW they’d check out everything and then sit down for that “we have a problem(s) interview when they were certain they’d only have to have one such sit down. OTOH I’m assuming that in the case of an expidited background check everything is accelerated due to either the high profile nature of a person’s job or the nature of the material they are handling while only possessing an interim clearance — or both. So I’m assuming that something like the FBI learned (credible information he’d beaten his ex-wives which would be disqualifying) is something the investigator(s) would take up with the person (Porter) right away. Anyway, at this point Porter could have done one of two things. Admit that what the FBI had learned was true (and upon being told he wouldn’t ultimately be granted his clearance resigned), or give a different story. IOW he could choose to lie, and not just by claiming his ex-wives (and others) were lying but also about whether he’d informed anyone in the transition or the White House where he was now working that this was “out there” including that picture he claims to have taken himself. You can bet the Special Agent(s) questioning him about the abuse would have asked whether he’d informed his superiors. In fact, at some point it’s highly likely they’d have followed up with either McGahn, Priebus or both. I wonder who said what and when?
I’d also remind you that lying to the FBI when they are conducting an official inquiry (and yes, a security clearance background investigation meets that standard) is a federal crime. A Felony in fact. So, as I've seen noted on TV either the ex-wives (and anyone they informed the FBI they told about the abuse) committed a Felony or Porter himself did. Something to think about.
But that still doesn’t get to the purpose of this diary, which is that sure as Donald Trump will tell multiple lies every single day the FBI would have gone to either White House Counsel Don McGahn (or his Office — whomever was tasked with dealing with clearances and all the paperwork) or then White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (or both) before the end of January 21017 with what they had learned. Let me put it this way. Someone who has credible and multiple instances of domestic abuse is someone who not only has anger management problems but also has a high probability of having people who know about his being a wife beater or even other victims (past girlfriends) out there. For someone in a high level job that means they are vulnerable to blackmail. As we see it creates a public scandal which no sane person wants. And since beating your wife or girlfriend would cause you to lose your clearance (and therefore your job) again, you are vulnerable to blackmail.
What this means is that a week into his new job at the White House where every day he’d be handling highly classified material, highly classified material intended for the President and who would be interacting with the President with it numerous times every day the FBI knew that Porter would never be approved for a permanent security clearance. I said some issues might be explained away but wife beating isn’t one of them. Given Porter’s job it’s inconceivable that this wouldn’t have been brought to the attention of either Priebus or McGahn immediately.
THAT begs the question of why they didn’t fire him immediately? Why did they allow someone who would never be approved by the FBI for a security clearance of any kind, much less the level required for Porter’s job to even finish out the day? Let’s be generous and say that with all the commotion of a new administration with lots of people the FBI had to check out that it took weeks or even a month or two for them to inform Priebus & McGahn about the problem? That’s still long before Kelly got to the White House.
I want to know why more isn’t being made of this, why Priebus and McGahn aren’t on the hot seat. I refuse to believe that even if someone besides McGahn was the “point person” regarding clearances for the White House staff that he wasn’t looped in about problems right away — and that he wouldn’t in turn go to that person’s supervisor. I’m all for Kelly being roasted. Fellow jarhead or not I despise the man and want to see him roasted over the coals. But his predecessor and also the White House Counsel shouldn’t be getting what amounts to a pass in all this.
One last thought. There is in fact a way around the problem of Porter not passing his background investigation. This or any President can overrule the FBI and grant any level of clearance to any damn person they please. Of course, prior to this President it was a reasonably safe assumption that Porter wouldn’t get off the hook and get his clearance. But it’s possible that tRump, like Kelly has been discovered to have done said “So what? tRump could have signed an order giving Porter his clearance regardless of any FBI recommendation.
But only tRump/the President could do so.
That means either tRump knew all about this for the better part of a year and blew it off - AND issued Porter his clearance. Or, people who had no authority to grant Porter the required clearance and knew absent a formal action by the President would never get that clearance made a conscious decision to allow Porter daily access to highly classified material. A lot higher btw than some paragraph marked with a ( c ) (for Confidential, the lowest security classification) buried in some emails and email chains of a certain lady by the name of Hillary Clinton.
If McGahn, Priebus and then Kelly conspired to hide the truth from tRump and allowed someone they knew didn’t meet the criteria to handle highly classified information conspiracy isn’t the only crime on the table.