President Donald Trump’s sympathetic public response to former White House staff secretary Rob Porter as he faces domestic abuse allegations is a “big problem” that the president “ought to correct,” Sen. Jeff Flake said Sunday.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” the retiring Arizona Republican, who’s been a frequent critic of Trump, said it’s “a bit of an understatement” that the White House could have handled the situation better, adding “they could have done a lot better.”
“[H]ow we are viewed as Republicans in the next election, I think that that is a big problem,” Flake said. “And certainly, substantively, it's a big problem not to show any concern or empathy for the potential victims of these incidents. That is a problem. And that's something I think the president ought to correct.”
Flake also decried the current vetting system for White House aides that allowed Porter to remain on the job without a final security clearance.
"I think there are signs that it does need to be reviewed,” Flake said. “I think we're going to have to talk about that with the judiciary committee, certainly in the Senate, because to have so many, dozens of people who are on an interim clearance over an extended period of time that are certainly viewing and considering classified material is a problem.
“So if we do need to reform the process, let's do it, but this current situation shouldn't continue."
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