Thread by @SethAbramson

ORDER OF EVENTS IN THE PORTER SCANDAL

1. White House discovers serial domestic abuser in West Wing.
2. FBI denies security clearance to said serial domestic abuser.
3. White House promotes serial domestic abuser to top level of government.
4. White House lies about what it knew.

2/ Somewhere in there the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States pens a statement lauding the character of the serial domestic abuser with the help of—wait for it—his girlfriend. Only when all this is discovered and starts to inconvenience Trump is the abuser fired.

3/ And finally, some necessary background: the president the serial domestic abuser was working for, who did nothing to ascertain why his Staff Secretary had an improper security clearance—or else knew *exactly* why he did—has himself been accused of sexually assaulting 20 women.

4/ Point of comparison: Bill Clinton lied about an affair and was impeached for it.

5/ Further context:

1. The said serial domestic abuser failed to receive FBI clearance because he was a blackmail (NatSec) risk.
2. We just learned the president was *successfully* blackmailed over his sexual exploits.
3. The president skewered Clinton over alleged NatSec risks.

6/ So if you're wondering why the Porter scandal matters and is actually a *big* deal, there you go. It involves:

* National security risks
* White House lies
* Presidential hypocrisy
* Presidential incompetence
* A possible anti-woman culture in the Oval Office (POTUS and CoS)