FBI Director Contradicts White House In Testimony About Aide's Domestic Abuse Investigation

On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray gave testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee that contradicted the White House's story on the investigation into former aide Rob Porter's background and the domestic abuse allegations that led to his resignation.

Wray sketched a general timeline for Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) about the investigation conducted on Porter's background for his security clearance:

The FBI submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in March and then a completed background investigation in late July. Soon thereafter we received request for followup inquiry, and we did the followup and provided that information in November, and then we administratively closed the file in January, and then earlier this month we received some additional information and we passed that on as well.

Wray seems to suggest that the findings of the investigation — which presumably included that Porter's ex-wives had accused him of abuse and that he was not eligible for a security clearance — were transmitted to the White House in November and that the investigation was officially closed in January. This testimony aligns with multiple press reports.

The White House, however, has repeatedly said that it kept Porter on until his resignation in early February because the investigation was "ongoing" and they didn't know the full extent of the allegations. If Wray's testimony is correct, it would appear that the White House isn't telling the truth.

On Tuesday, though, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that while the FBI investigation was closed the White House personnel security office "had not made a final recommendation for adjudication to the White House because the process was still ongoing… in the view of the personnel security office the FBI's July report required significant additional investigatory fieldwork."