Vice President Mike Pence says he, too, was unaware of Rob Porter’s background, even though he in charge of the hiring process when the ex-White House staff secretary would have been vetted.
Pence told NBC in an interview on Friday that he was ‘appalled’ by the allegations against Porter.
‘The time that he resigned is when I first became aware of the allegations of domestic abuse,’ he said in a sit-down with Lester Holt on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. ‘And there’s no tolerance in this White House and no place in America for domestic abuse.’
Vice President Mike Pence says he, too, was unaware of Rob Porter’s background, even though he in charge of the hiring process when the ex-White House staff secretary would have been vetted
Holt did not press Pence in a teaser of the interview on his role in Porter’s hiring.
The vice president’s knowledge, or lackthereof, about Porter’s wives’ allegations has come under scrutiny, though, amid aggressive finger-pointing within Trump’s orbit.
Pence took control of the Trump transition team several days after the 2016 presidential election. Porter was in the first wave of staffers to fill the White House after Trump’s inauguration.
The White House official was terminated on Wednesday, and left the property for good on Thursday after a pair of DailyMail.com reports revealed allegations of abuse from both of Porter’s ex-wives.
Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby made on-the-record claims to DailyMail.com about abuse they say they suffered during their marriages to the top Trump aide.
Holderness said Porter choked and punched her during their marriage. Willoughby says he dragged her wet and naked out of the shower and was verbally abusive.
President Trump finally spoke out about the matter on Friday in a surprise Oval Office appearance where he said he only just found out about the abuse allegations.
‘I was surprised by it. But we certainly wish him well. It’s obviously a tough time for him,’ Trump said. ‘He did a very good job when he was in the White House and we hope he has a wonderful career.’
Trump did not say anything about the women, and he did not condemn domestic abuse in the brief remarks that came in response to a request for his reaction to the revelations about Porter.
Instead, Trump said, ‘As you probably know, he says he’s innocent. And I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent. So you’ll have to talk to him about that.’
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has been a target during the turmoil because of his initial support for Porter, which quieted as the week went on and was reduced to a claim in a Thursday memo to staff that physical violence is never acceptable.
The vice president’s knowledge, or lackthereof, about Porter’s wives’ allegations has come under scrutiny amid aggressive finger-pointing within Trump’s orbit. Porter is seen in the Oval Office handing a document to Trump on Jan. 20, 2017
But Kelly, who is said to have done a staff audit when he took the reigns, did not become White House staff in July of 2017, meaning he would not have been part of the team that vetted Porter during the transition.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was leading those operations until he was booted just after the election and replaced at the top of the president’s transition team by the vice president.
Christie told ABC News in a Wednesday podcast that Porter’s name never came up when he was in charge of Trump’s transition team.
‘If they didn’t know, it’s a failure of vetting,’ he said of Porter’s personal history.
Pence has been on a trip abroad since Monday of this week. He side-stepped questions about Porter from his traveling press corps on Thursday in Japan.
‘We’re on our way to the Olympics, and I learned as I awoke this morning of those developments. And so we’ll comment on any issues affecting White House staff when we get back to Washington,’ he said.
The vice president wasn’t able to duck Holt’s questioning as easy, however, in his interview NBC host before he departed South Korea.
‘I think the White House has acknowledged that they could have handled it better,’ he said, distancing himself entirely from the scandal.
Pence pledged that when he returned to Washington, though, ‘I’m going to look into the matter.’