A normal White House — meaning any other from either party in modern history — does not attack the FBI based on ill-conceived conspiracy theories nor does it ignore a threat to our electoral system because it might make the president feel insecure about his victory. And never, ever does it hire a senior staffer who cannot pass a security check because of https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senior-white-house-official-to-resign-following-allegations-of-abuse/2018/02/07/49aa80b8-0c19-11e8-baf5-e629fc1cd21e_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpporter-155p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.83c0d3244c70 (substantial evidence of spousal abuse). The photo of one of the staffer’s ex-wives, with a badly discolored, bruised eye, and a protective order granted to another ex-wife, take this far out of the realm of a “he said, she said.” And yet, in this White House, the reaction is not horror and revulsion, but determination to defend the alleged abuser, Rob Porter.
“If you had multiple incidents backed by strong evidence as here, the employee would’ve been immediately asked to resign and if they refused be subject to termination procedures (subject of course to due process),” says Norm Eisen, President Barack Obama’s former ethics counsel. “That is, unless they could offer compelling evidence the accusations were false.” He adds that with a political appointee “embarrassment to the president is a highly relevant consideration.”
Richard Painter, the ethics counsel for President George W. Bush, says one wouldn’t even need to get to the legal analysis. “I don’t think White House counsel or the chief of staff would reach a conclusion on the merits or whether he was someone to be trusted with women or otherwise,” he said. “I believe the relevant question is whether this is enough of a distraction to undermine the mission of the White House of carrying out the president’s agenda.” He added, “And with this strong evidence and his inability to prove the accusations were false, I would ask him to resign.”
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Whatever military skills Kelly possessed have not translated well into the political arena. The White House is as inept and scandal-ridden (if not more so) as when he arrived. The interactions between Congress and the White House have been chaotic and acrimonious. He has a poor antennae (as he demonstrated when caught flat-footed by Michael Wolffe’s book release) for anticipating a media firestorm. In refusing to apologize to a congresswoman after accusations proved false, smearing young immigrants (“lazy”), helping to sabotage a DACA deal, and now sheltering and singing the praises of someone against whom there is ample evidence of wife-beating, Kelly has revealed his character. He also has reminded us that military service does not necessarily produce men worthy of serving at the highest levels of government.
In short, he’s not helping Trump; instead — against all odds — he has arguably worsened Trump’s many flaws — including his lack of respect for women.
