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Domestic Abusers in the Trump Administration

QuidQuid Definitely not a bananaRegistered User regular
edited February 2018 in Debate and/or Discourse
In the last week two White House officials resigned over domestic abuse allegations. The first, Rob Porter was unable to get a security clearance because of this. Despite the highly sensitive nature of his job chief of staff John Kelly continued to do nothing and claims he had no idea, even praising Porter after news broke out.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/08/john-kelly-rob-porter-security-clearance-400987
White House chief of staff John Kelly was told several weeks ago that multiple White House aides who had been working in the West Wing on interim security clearances would not qualify for permanent clearances.

Those aides, according to a senior administration official, included former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who left the White House on Thursday after reports that he physically and verbally abused his two ex-wives.

More recently Trump’s speech writer resigned following allegations of domestic abuse.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/trump-speechwriter-quits-over-abuse-allegations.html
David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked with Stephen Miller, a top advisor to President Donald Trump, resigned Friday after his wife accused him of being abusive during their marriage. The Washington Post first reported the allegations.

"Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations," White House spokesman Raj Shah said. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today."

Trump of course is defending them.



This thread is a split from the congressional sexual harassment thread and should be considered separate.

So It Goes on
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  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    For those not in the know, domestic abuse is something that will absolutely get a person denied or cause them to lose a security clearance.

    Kelly saying he didn’t know about Porter’s past, if honest, means he’s ignoring FBI background checks. Though given his praise I find it far more likely he’s just okay with what his buddy did.

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Slight edit to your thread title

    This is not a general Trump admin thread and discussion should be specific to Porter, Stephenson, and I suppose any other admin members who are revealed as abusers.

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Oh shoot, yeah, that’s much more accurate.

  • No-QuarterNo-Quarter Nothing To Fear But Fear ItselfRegistered User regular
    Sweet Jesus, he put that out this morning?

    This guy.

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    It feels kind of quaint that there are people still willing to resign out of some sense of shame or even just the fear of political consequences.

    ACsTqqK.jpg
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Mike Pence played the usual card of "I only found out when everyone else found out" about Rob Porter.

    Gotta give props to the reporter who called him out on this.

    EDIT: According to some of the comments, the reporter who called him out is Ashley Parker, who is a White House reporter for WaPo.



    CSPAN is considered the most boring of major news networks

    DarkPrimus on
  • JoeUserJoeUser Forum Santa Registered User regular
    So Sorensen put out a bunch of documents where he claims that he was actually the victim of abuse.

    It's quite something, and I don't know what to make of them.

    https://www.scribd.com/document/371215532/David-Sorensen-Statement

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Claiming to be the real victim is a pretty common tactic of abusers.

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    If you’re really not guilty, if in fact you’re the victim here not just of a false accusation but of abuse yourself, why would you resign?

    ACsTqqK.jpg
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    No-Quarter wrote: »
    Sweet Jesus, he put that out this morning?

    This guy.

    I mean, look at Trump. He was falsely accused of being a serial sexual predator and his career just ended. Hardly anybody knows his name now.

    False accusations are the REAL issue here.

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    Trump's comment about false allegations is a hell of a thing to say considering what he's said of Mexican people during his time as a politician.

    That question Pence got asked really nailed his ass to the wall. Kudos I suppose for him keeping his composure but even having to be asked that question diminishes his position, as it should. He's kind of the most do-nothing VP we've had in some decades.
    JoeUser wrote: »
    So Sorensen put out a bunch of documents where he claims that he was actually the victim of abuse.

    It's quite something, and I don't know what to make of them.

    https://www.scribd.com/document/371215532/David-Sorensen-Statement
    I wasn't sure if this was going to be the "I was abused, therefore pity me because it turned me into an abuser" thing or not. This "I am rubber you are glue" shit going on with this administration is pretty embarrassing.

  • OneAngryPossumOneAngryPossum Registered User regular
    JoeUser wrote: »
    So Sorensen put out a bunch of documents where he claims that he was actually the victim of abuse.

    It's quite something, and I don't know what to make of them.

    https://www.scribd.com/document/371215532/David-Sorensen-Statement

    Readings that shit is infuriating. That is classic gaslighting. He is essentially calling her crazy, telling his friends and family that she is crazy, telling her that she is crazy and that she can’t trust her own thoughts and experiences. Every single thing that he is providing without any goddamned context could be explained by a woman trying not to be abused by her husband.

    I hope he fucking loses everything.

  • Desktop HippieDesktop Hippie Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Henroid wrote: »
    Trump's comment about false allegations is a hell of a thing to say considering what he's said of Mexican people during his time as a politician.

    Trump took out a full page ad in the New York Times demanding that the government execute the Central Park Five, and to this day insists they are guilty even though their convictions have been erased since they were exonerated by DNA evidence. He held a press conference with women who accused Bill Clinton of harassment and assault. During a live TV debate (and many times during his rallies) he threatened to jail his opponent, who has never been charged with a crime, far less convicted of one.

    I think it’s safe to say the level of hypocrisy on display here is Biblical.

    *takes breath*

    He’s already out of the White House, and for different reasons, but Steve Bannon should be added to the list of known abusers too. He beat is wife, and apparently Trump’s reaction on hearing the allegations was to nickname him “Bam Bam.”

    Desktop Hippie on
  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    In the last week two White House officials resigned over domestic abuse allegations. The first, Rob Porter was unable to get a security clearance because of this. Despite the highly sensitive nature of his job chief of staff John Kelly continued to do nothing and claims he had no idea, even praising Porter after news broke out.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/08/john-kelly-rob-porter-security-clearance-400987
    White House chief of staff John Kelly was told several weeks ago that multiple White House aides who had been working in the West Wing on interim security clearances would not qualify for permanent clearances.

    Those aides, according to a senior administration official, included former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who left the White House on Thursday after reports that he physically and verbally abused his two ex-wives.

    More recently Trump’s speech writer resigned following allegations of domestic abuse.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/trump-speechwriter-quits-over-abuse-allegations.html
    David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked with Stephen Miller, a top advisor to President Donald Trump, resigned Friday after his wife accused him of being abusive during their marriage. The Washington Post first reported the allegations.

    "Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations," White House spokesman Raj Shah said. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today."

    Trump of course is defending them.



    This thread is a split from the congressional sexual harassment thread and should be considered separate.

    President angling for a column in the NYT opinion pages

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • wanderingwandering Russia state-affiliated media Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Perhaps it should be said that Trump is also an abuser.

    wandering on
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

    If he saw it he’s evil. If he didn’t see it he’s negligent. Either way he should be out of a job.

    ACsTqqK.jpg
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Astaereth wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

    If he saw it he’s evil. If he didn’t see it he’s negligent. Either way he should be out of a job.

    There's no way he didn't see it. He's got a White House full of people being denied clearances, he's looked at the papers on them.

  • Duke 2.0Duke 2.0 Time Trash Cat Registered User regular
    Henroid wrote: »
    Trump's comment about false allegations is a hell of a thing to say considering what he's said of Mexican people during his time as a politician.

    Or his false allegations made about Obama’s birth cirtificate before his time as a politician. Hypocrisy is the one thing he cannot disappoint with, it is expected and fulfilled.

    The difference here is this scandal is transparently a security risk. I think Congress cannot simply cover for this one like everything else. And Kelly might be seeing that too.

    VRXwDW7.png
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Duke 2.0 wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    Trump's comment about false allegations is a hell of a thing to say considering what he's said of Mexican people during his time as a politician.

    Or his false allegations made about Obama’s birth cirtificate before his time as a politician. Hypocrisy is the one thing he cannot disappoint with, it is expected and fulfilled.

    The difference here is this scandal is transparently a security risk. I think Congress cannot simply cover for this one like everything else. And Kelly might be seeing that too.

    Congress can cover for this no problem. They've been covering for Kushner for over a year now.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Really its outrageous what happened with both of these guys, but realistically especially in our current political climate I expect this will not effect anything. Especially not with Trump banging the false allegation drum, which is pretty hard with Porter when there are police reports and photos of at least one of his victims.

    Just more rank hypocrisy from the party of family values.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    No-Quarter wrote: »
    Sweet Jesus, he put that out this morning?

    This guy.

    I mean, look at Trump. He was falsely accused of being a serial sexual predator and his career just ended. Hardly anybody knows his name now.

    False accusations are the REAL issue here.

    and everyone knows that when a woman accuses a man of abuse, whether truthfully or not, that woman is 100% always showered with riches, fame, and security in every aspect of her life.

    So many famous women we know and admire today built their careers on accusing famous men of abuse.

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    Mike Pence played the usual card of "I only found out when everyone else found out" about Rob Porter.

    Gotta give props to the reporter who called him out on this.

    EDIT: According to some of the comments, the reporter who called him out is Ashley Parker, who is a White House reporter for WaPo.



    CSPAN is considered the most boring of major news networks

    I'm at the point where I'm convinced that Pence spends every second he isn't doing a public appearance inside of a hermetically sealed sensory deprivation tank given how oblivious he seems to be regarding the various goings on inside of the whitehouse.

  • emp123emp123 Registered User regular
    We all know he didnt write that statement right? Coherent sentences with proper punctuation and no randomly capitalized or quoted words?

    I'm sure a staffer ripped his phones from his hands before he tweeted out something truly vile.


    Doesnt change the fact that hypocrisy pours from each word though.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Duke 2.0 wrote: »
    Henroid wrote: »
    Trump's comment about false allegations is a hell of a thing to say considering what he's said of Mexican people during his time as a politician.

    Or his false allegations made about Obama’s birth cirtificate before his time as a politician. Hypocrisy is the one thing he cannot disappoint with, it is expected and fulfilled.

    The difference here is this scandal is transparently a security risk. I think Congress cannot simply cover for this one like everything else. And Kelly might be seeing that too.

    Congress can cover for this no problem. They've been covering for Kushner for over a year now.

    We all know Trump is a hypocrite in a wide variety of ways, but let's only discuss those that pertain specifically to the thread topic, please.

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • Harry DresdenHarry Dresden Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Never mind.

    Harry Dresden on
  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    Gaddez wrote: »
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    Mike Pence played the usual card of "I only found out when everyone else found out" about Rob Porter.

    Gotta give props to the reporter who called him out on this.

    EDIT: According to some of the comments, the reporter who called him out is Ashley Parker, who is a White House reporter for WaPo.



    CSPAN is considered the most boring of major news networks

    I'm at the point where I'm convinced that Pence spends every second he isn't doing a public appearance inside of a hermetically sealed sensory deprivation tank given how oblivious he seems to be regarding the various goings on inside of the whitehouse.

    I'm surprised that he makes public appearances. If I was Trump's Vice President, I'd be spending the whole time in an undisclosed beach-side location, with instructions to only contact me if I need to be sworn in.

  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hope-hicks-the-quiet-one-in-trumps-white-house-suddenly-feels-the-glare/2018/02/09/738f0e74-0dba-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html
    Hicks has been dating Rob Porter, 40, who left his job Wednesday, and was involved in crafting the widely condemned initial White House defense of him. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly called him “a man of true integrity.”
    Why did anybody think letting her be involved in crafting the response to her boyfriend being accused of domestic violence was a good idea?

  • MarathonMarathon Registered User regular
    Couscous wrote: »
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hope-hicks-the-quiet-one-in-trumps-white-house-suddenly-feels-the-glare/2018/02/09/738f0e74-0dba-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html
    Hicks has been dating Rob Porter, 40, who left his job Wednesday, and was involved in crafting the widely condemned initial White House defense of him. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly called him “a man of true integrity.”
    Why did anybody think letting her be involved in crafting the response to her boyfriend being accused of domestic violence was a good idea?

    The guy giving the presentation during orientation kept making the jerking off motion every time he said the phrase “conflicts of interest”.

    Which is why none of them seem to understand the concept.

  • silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    Astaereth wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

    If he saw it he’s evil. If he didn’t see it he’s negligent. Either way he should be out of a job.

    Pressure building to the point where Kelly had to resign as Chief of Staff would be a major boon to America. We'll see what the tenor of conversation on the Sunday shows is. In a sane world Kelly would be out for protecting domestic abusers, but I believe there's allegations he protected abusers when he was in the military as well?

  • GaddezGaddez Registered User regular
    Astaereth wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

    If he saw it he’s evil. If he didn’t see it he’s negligent. Either way he should be out of a job.

    Pressure building to the point where Kelly had to resign as Chief of Staff would be a major boon to America. We'll see what the tenor of conversation on the Sunday shows is. In a sane world Kelly would be out for protecting domestic abusers, but I believe there's allegations he protected abusers when he was in the military as well?

    The best people.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Astaereth wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    It is gross that Kelly claims he had no idea until recently with Porter when the FBI denied him security clearance dating back to summer of last year. Hell there is even a hinky as hell thing with that where they were investigating him in janurary 2017, got photos from his first ex wife and then it took till august for them to deny?

    And Porter is a real POS trying to get his wives to downplay or lie about his abuse. One of them I believe the second ex wife said she's sad for Hope Hicks his rumored girlfriend right now because its not an if it's a when he'll abuse her.

    Kelly's excuse is bullshit. By the time he was Chief of Staff he has to have seen the FBI report on the guy which from what we know has to have included his ex-wives saying "He beats the shit out of his wives, he is totally blackmailable for that".

    If he saw it he’s evil. If he didn’t see it he’s negligent. Either way he should be out of a job.

    Pressure building to the point where Kelly had to resign as Chief of Staff would be a major boon to America. We'll see what the tenor of conversation on the Sunday shows is. In a sane world Kelly would be out for protecting domestic abusers, but I believe there's allegations he protected abusers when he was in the military as well?
    shryke wrote: »
    Turns out Porter isn't the first abusive piece of shit Kelly is willing to defend:

    Toronto Star Reporter


    NYT Reporter

    So basically none of these people have good judgement on this issue.

  • silence1186silence1186 Character shields down! As a wingmanRegistered User regular
    "Indecent liberties with a child?" That may be the single most generous description of abuse (child or other) I've ever seen phrased.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Man is literally everyone in this admin awful? This reminds me of the Obama admin and not paying taxes. Except you know a shit ton worse than "rich people never pay taxes".

    I get its fruit from the rotten tree of Trump. But covering for DV'rs and trying to use "Well he's a nice guy to me" defenses seem really gross when just about everyone in the admin is a man.

    Preacher on
    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Man is literally everyone in this admin awful? This reminds me of the Obama admin and not paying taxes. Except you know a shit ton worse than "rich people never pay taxes".

    I get its fruit from the rotten tree of Trump. But covering for DV'rs and trying to use "Well he's a nice guy to me" defenses seem really gross when just about everyone in the admin is a man.

    It is kind of like that, I swear.

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/11/politics/kellyanne-conway-rob-porter-sotu-cnntv/index.html

    Kellyanne Conway is out today saying 1) believe the women, and 2) Kelly has the President's full support. Doesn't that usually mean that you're guilty and the President is going to fire you? Damnit Kelly, you were supposed to be the fking adult in the room.

  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    The adult white supremacist I suppose, yeah

  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    He's working for Trump

    standards don't apply anymore

  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Man is literally everyone in this admin awful? This reminds me of the Obama admin and not paying taxes. Except you know a shit ton worse than "rich people never pay taxes".

    I get its fruit from the rotten tree of Trump. But covering for DV'rs and trying to use "Well he's a nice guy to me" defenses seem really gross when just about everyone in the admin is a man.

    There must be some name for the social phenomena at play here where people maybe start out with a generally conservative mindset and gradually start to become sympathizers for heinous shit being perpetrated by others on their "team." Like they can't condemn it openly because to do that would mean siding with the enemy and losing their allies, so instead they remain silent, maybe even help the person keep it quiet. Then they start to do the mental gymnastics required to justify that to themselves and eventually the lie becomes truth to them.

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