WASHINGTON _ White House chief of staff John Kelly sought again Friday to defend his role in handling the ouster of Rob Porter, who remained in President Donald Trump's inner circle at the White House for months after notifications from the FBI that Porter's two ex-wives had accused him of spousal abuse.
"We didn't cover ourselves in glory in terms of how we handled that," Kelly told reporters Friday, referring to days of conflicting statements from the White House after Porter resigned on Feb. 6. "It was confusing."
But Kelly insisted that his overall conduct was appropriate, and that he never considered resigning over the episode, as some media reports had suggested.
"I have nothing to even consider resigning over," he said.
But Kelly's latest comments on the scandal raise new questions about his decisions, and reveal new inconsistencies in his timelines.
Kelly came under intense criticism last month after he offered a glowing endorsement of Porter's "integrity and honor" following questions from the Daily Mail about the spousal abuse allegations.
Kelly reportedly had been considering promoting Porter, who was staff secretary at the White House, a key role as a gatekeeper for the president and his top aides.
The FBI sent reports on the abuse allegations to the White House three separate times _ in March, July and November of last year _ as part of its investigation for Porter's security clearance. Kelly said those reports went to the White House security office, and he never saw them.
He did not explain why he or other top White House officials never asked the FBI why Porter's high-level security clearance had been held up for more than a year.
The lengthy delay was highly unusual, and White House veterans have said it should have raised warning signs of a problem.
Kelly offered his newest explanations two days after Hope Hicks, who reportedly was dating Porter before he was ousted, resigned from her position as White House communications director.
Kelly told reporters that he first was told of "red flags" on Porter at about 5 p.m. on Feb. 6, after a reporter from the Daily Mail asked the White House about the alleged abuse. One of Porter's ex-wives had "claimed that she had had some level of emotional abuse," he said.
He said he then confronted Porter. "I said 'What's the deal?'" Kelly said. "He denied it. He said it's absolutely untrue."
Later that night, Kelly said, another press inquiry revealed that "a second wife had made accusations and included abuse," he said. "I talked to Rob and just, he resigned."
But the White House by then had issued a statement from Kelly praising Porter as "a man of true integrity and honor and I can't say enough good things about him."
Kelly said Friday that "at that point in time, I thought (the statement) was accurate." He added, "The man we all knew, it was an absolute shock. His religion, his focus on work, etcetera. It was just a shock to us all."
The next day, Kelly said, he was told Porter was "still in the building" and "I talked to Rob again to make sure he knew he had resigned."
That created a conflict with other White House statements, however.
When White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Porter's resignation on Feb. 7 she said it "won't be immediate," to ensure a smooth transition, and she read Porter's forceful denial from the press room podium.
She added that Porter "was not pressured" to leave the White House, and his decision to leave was "personal" and "made on his own."
The incident has put a sharp focus on the large number of White House staffers who had been working without permanent security clearance, including Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and close adviser. The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to hold a hearing on security clearances next Wednesday.
