White House Let Rob Porter Keep Job Even After Receiving Final F.B.I. Report
Mr. Wray also told lawmakers that the bureau delivered its first report on Mr. Porter to the White House in March,
months earlier than White House officials said they learned of the problems with his background check.
Since then, multiple people familiar with the situation have said
that top officials — including John F. Kelly, the chief of staff; Joe Hagin, the deputy chief of staff for operations; and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel — learned in November that there were problems with Mr. Porter’s background investigation.
Mr. Porter, who as staff secretary handled all of the documents
that made their way to the president, was forced to resign last week after allegations of abuse by his two ex-wives surfaced, sparking a week of shifting explanations by White House officials about who knew about Mr. Porter’s history and when they knew it.
In fact, the White House spent the first hours after learning of the accusations — including the publication of photographs of one of his ex-wives
with a black eye she said he gave her — defending Mr. Porter against the allegations and insisting that he was not being dismissed.
He said the bureau received a request for a “follow-up inquiry” — the kind of directive
that typically would have come from a senior official in the West Wing — and provided more information about Mr. Porter’s background to the White House in November.