JOHN KELLY/NATIONAL SECURITY: “President Donald Trump has full confidence in John Kelly, White House officials said Sunday [2-11-18], after the president in recent days had privately criticized his chief of staff’s handling of domestic-abuse allegations against a senior aide.
Top officials also defended Mr. Trump’s recent public statements about abuse, in which he emphasized that many people’s lives were ‘shattered’ by accusations of abuse, but didn’t express concern for the victims of the abuse.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said Mr. Trump’s view is that his chief of staff is ‘doing a great job and that he has full faith in him.’… The incident has put an uncomfortable spotlight on Mr. Kelly. Mr. Trump has started to ask his friends in recent days about Mr. Kelly’s performance and has sought opinions on potential replacements, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. He suggested Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as one possible candidate…
Mr. Kelly initially defended Mr. Porter, vouching for his integrity publicly and privately urging him to fight the allegations and remain in the job, according to White House officials. But he then reversed himself and accepted Mr. Porter’s resignation after graphic photos emerged Wednesday of alleged abuse…
The Journal reported on Friday that White House counsel Don McGahn was aware of some of the allegations against Mr. Porter from the earliest days of Mr. Trump’s presidency, but accepted Mr. Porter’s statement that his ex-wives’ allegations were untrue and didn’t ask further questions.”
-Rebecca Ballhaus, “Officials Say Trump Has Full Confidence in Chief of Staff John Kelly,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 11, 2018 02:42pm