Gowdy: ‘Troubled by Almost Every Aspect’ of Porter’s Employment – ‘The Chronology Is Not Favorable for the White House’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) announced the Oversight Committee has started an investigation into the handling of former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter. He also stated he is “troubled by almost every aspect” of Porter’s employment and that “The chronology is not favorable for the White House.”

Co-host Alisyn Camerota asked, “Are you troubled by Rob Porter’s employment in the White House?”

Gowdy responded, “Yes, one two levels. One’s the interim security clearance issue, but even more importantly, I spent two decades believing women and children who alleged abuse, even sometimes when no one else did. So, whether or not there’s a security clearance at issue or not, I have real questions about how someone like this could be considered for employment whether there’s a security clearance or not. So, yeah, I’m troubled by almost every aspect of this.”

He further stated, “How do you have any job if you have credible allegations of domestic abuse? I — again, I am biased towards the victim. I spent two decades believing them. But you don’t have to be biased towards the victim to ask, how in the hell did this happen?”

Gowdy said that he wants to know what Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Counsel Don McGahn knew and when, and what actions they took. He added, “The chronology is not favorable for the White House. When you have the head of the FBI saying, ‘We told you three times in 2017 and once more in 2018 for good measure,’ then I think the really fair questions are what were you told, by whom were you told it, did you have some reason to question what the bureau told you? And if none of that is true, why did you keep him on?”

Gowdy further stated that he has questions about what exactly the FBI told the White House.

(h/t Mediaite)

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett