There are something like 130 people on White House staff with interim security clearances. We’ve known for a long time that there were issues with clearances, but we only just found out how extensive this problem is. The Rob Porter scandal brought the inability to obtain clearances into the spotlight, but somehow, the person most responsible for the problem has managed to duck accountability entirely
Rob Porter started work on the first day of the administration. In other words, he was a transition hire. That means Mike Pence, the official head of the transition, was responsible for vetting Porter as a prospective hire. And likewise with everyone else hired during the transition.
Pence has said the administration has zero tolerance for domestic abuse. Why did Porter get hired? There was a Temporary Protective Order against him granted to his ex wife, and that would definitely show up on any kind of standard background check done for employment.
So if Pence is responsible for hiring over 100 people who could not be granted security clearances, that says a lot about the kind of job he did. This is as much his mess as anyone else’s. How has he been able to duck this issue?
I know Trump is the primary target of concern right now, but I feel it’s also important to make sure shit sticks to Pence so that he goes down right alongside Trump.