House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) responded to questions Wednesday about the manner in which the White House handled domestic abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter.
Ryan was asked by NBC’s Kasie Hunt if the White House “should publicly condemn domestic violence.” Hunt also noted that Trump wished Porter well upon his departure.
“Clearly we should all be condemning domestic violence,” Ryan replied.
“And if a person who commits domestic violence gets in the government, then there is a breakdown in the vetting system and that breakdown needs to be addressed,” he added.
Ryan said that the White House “clearly [has] work to do to fix their vetting system.”
“I don’t know exactly how they will do that. I’ll leave that to them,” Ryan said, “but Chairman Gowdy is doing his proper job and oversight.”
House Oversight Committee Chair Trey Gowdy (R-SC) announced Wednesday that the committee is investigating the White House’s handling of the incident.
"We are directing inquiries to people that we think have access to information we don't have,” Gowdy told CNN. “You can call it official.You can call it unofficial. Those words don't mean anything to me. What means something to me is I'm going to direct questions to the FBI that I expect them to answer."
"How do you have any job if you have credible allegations of domestic abuse?" Gowdy asked, saying he is "biased toward the victim."
Porter resigned last Wednesday after The Daily Mail featured allegations and photos from Porter's two ex-wives detailing domestic abuse.
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