White House Still Hasn’t Settled on a Single Lie About Rob Porter

Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

So has the White House finally settled on a single story about Rob Porter’s history of domestic violence? You know, basic stuff like how much they knew and when they knew it? I guess not:

The F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, said on Tuesday that the bureau delivered final results in January of its background investigation into Rob Porter….But the White House allowed Mr. Porter to continue serving in his post until the accusations surfaced publicly in press reports last week.

….Mr. Wray also told lawmakers that the bureau delivered its first report on Mr. Porter to the White House in March [2017], months earlier than White House officials said they learned of the problems with his background check….Mr. Wray’s testimony pointed up a contradictory and frequently changing story line from the White House about a scandal that has engulfed the West Wing. It has raised questions about the credibility of President Trump’s most senior advisers…and the degree of tolerance they may have shown to an ambitious colleague apparently eager to cover up a dark past.

Yeah, this “raises questions” about the credibility of Donald Trump’s senior aides. That would make more sense if they hadn’t lied about similar stuff relentlessly over the past year, long since blowing up any credibility they had in the first place.

As for waiting to fire Porter until accusations against him were made public, that’s par for the course. Remember Michael Flynn? Remember how long he was kept on after the White House knew he had lied to the FBI? Answer: until it became public. What a coincidence.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate