FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly listens during a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean defectors in the Oval Office of the White House... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressure mounted on White House chief of staff John Kelly Thursday as questions swirled about his defense of a senior aide he fought to keep in a highly sensitive West Wing job despite accusations of spousal abuse from two ex-wives. 
 
 White House staff secretary Rob Porter, a member of President Donald Trump's inner circle and arguably Kelly's closest aide, cleaned out his desk on Thursday. But the aftershocks of his resignation reverberated amid concerns about his access to classified information. 
 
 Kelly himself faced criticism for initially defending his aide — only to later shift course after the publication of photos showing one of Porter's ex-wives with a black eye. 
 
 "It's fair to say we all could have done better over the last few hours or last few days in dealing with this situation," said White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah, who faced a barrage of questions about Kelly during a press briefing. 
 
 Though the allegations against Porter became public this week, Kelly learned last fall that something was amiss with the staff secretary's attempts to get a security clearance, according to an administration official who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters. 
 
 The chief of staff had sought information about the status of security clearance applications for top aides, and it was then he learned there were allegations against Porter from his ex-wives, said the official. Porter and Kelly later discussed the allegations. 
 
 The White House official said that staffers felt misled about how Porter downplayed the allegations, both to Kelly at the end of the 2017 and to White House Counsel Don McGahn near the beginning of Trump's term. 
 
 When the allegations first emerged against Porter a number of senior aides rallied around him, and the White House acknowledged that personal relationships may have played a role in their response. Communications Director Hope Hicks, who was dating the staff secretary, helped draft the original statements defending him, according to three current and former White House officials. 
 
 Shah said Thursday that Hicks later "recused" herself from some aspects of the matter, but it was unclear from what. Kelly, meanwhile, was Porter's loudest defender, including in the first hours after the graphic photos of alleged abuse emerged. 
 
 Only later did the chief of staff, who had argued for Porter to keep his post, release a second statement in which he said he supported Porter's resignation. 
 
 Shah said that Trump was not aware until Tuesday of the accusations against Porter, who was a frequent presence in the Oval Office and helped craft last week's State of the Union address. By the time the president was fully briefed of the claims against Porter on Wednesday, the once-rising White House star had already resigned, according to the official. 
 
 A number of lawmakers criticized Kelly, and a leading women's group called for the chief of staff to resign. 
 
 The president, for his part, has not signaled to allies that he is on the verge of making a change. But his frustration with Kelly has grown in recent weeks. 
 
 Trump has long resisted Kelly's attempt to control him. In recent weeks, the president has complained about the chief of staff to his circle of informal advisers, according to two people who speak to the president regularly but are not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. One of the people said Trump was angry that Kelly did not bring the Porter allegations to him sooner. 
 
 Kelly also drew Trump's ire last month when he seemed to suggest that the president was flip-flopping on his call for a border wall. Trump complained to aides that the chief of staff had portrayed him as a child who had to be managed, a contention that particularly irked the president in the wake of the way he was portrayed in the recent Michael Wolff book, "Fire and Fury." 
 
 Though Trump frequently vents about senior aides, he is often loath to fire staffers. A dismissal of Kelly would surely revive the narrative of a White House in crisis as it faces the ongoing Russia probe and the midterm elections. 
 
 But Kelly's handling of the Porter affair rattled some aides, who questioned his full-throated defense of an accused batterer, according to more than a half-dozen White House officials and outside advisers who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. 
 
 Democratic swiftly called for an investigation into Porter's presence at the White House. 
 
 "If John Kelly is covering this up, he needs to be held accountable," Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told CNN's "New Day," adding, "He better have a really good reason. Otherwise, he's gone, too." 
 
 Toni Van Pelt, head of the National Organization for Women, was more direct. She revisited the accusations that Trump himself has sexually harassed women, allegations he has denied. 
 
 "White House chief of staff John Kelly must resign," said Van Pelt. "His pathetic defense of staff secretary Rob Porter reveals his true nature — an enabler of sexual abusers, a betrayer of trust and an avoider of responsibility." 
 
 The White House was also put on the defensive about Porter's interim security clearance, fielding questions about how someone could handle some of the nation's most sensitive documents while potentially being ripe for blackmail. In Thursday's briefing, Shah outlined the background check procedure, which is run by the federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies and was still underway for Porter. 
 
 Attorneys who specialize in security clearance said Porter should have disclosed the allegations, including the protective order granted to one woman, when he filed his lengthy national security application. John V. Berry, who represents government employees and contractors, said the FBI would have notified the White House about the allegations but noted that the interim clearance would not have prohibited Porter from having access to sensitive information. 
 
 Both of Porter's ex-wives have detailed the nature of the abuse they said they suffered at Porter's hands and said they informed the FBI. One of them, Jennifer Willoughby, posted about it in detail on Instagram in April 2017 and wrote of Porter that "When I tried to get help, I was counseled to consider carefully how what I said might affect his career." 
 
 She wrote again Thursday that she hoped her "story and my words can be a beacon forward for anyone who needs to be reminded: You are seen. You matter. You are enough." 
 
 Kelly was brought into the West Wing to bring calm to Trump's tumultuous operation but recently has created some of his own chaos, rattling aides and lawmakers with inflammatory remarks and political missteps. 
 
 For many staffers, Kelly had brought a much-needed sense of order to a White House that had been riven with rivalries and was frequently upended by the whims of a mercurial president. Kelly, along with Porter, helped organize the West Wing's policy and decision-making process and infused the staff with a clearer sense of purpose, officials said. 
 
 But that semblance of confidence has been eroded. 
 
 Kelly's claim Tuesday that some immigrants are "too lazy to get off their asses" and register for government protections stunned some aides who questioned the chief of staff's political instincts and were dismayed by his language. 
 
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 AP reporters Darlene Superville and Juliet Linderman contributed. 
 
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 Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire, Lucey at http://twitter.com/@catherine_lucey and Colvin at http://twitter.com/@colvinj ||||| Washington (CNN) White House chief of staff John Kelly sent a lengthy memo to White House staffers Thursday night addressing the allegations made against former White House staffer Rob Porter. 
 
 In one of the paragraphs, Kelly wrote, "While we are all processing the shocking and troubling allegations made against a former White House staffer, I want you to know that we all take matters of domestic violence seriously. Domestic violence is abhorrent and has no place in our society." 
 
 Kelly also advised staffers who are seeking counseling that resources are available at the White House. 
 
 On Tuesday, allegations of domestic abuse surfaced against Porter by his two ex-wives. The White House -- including Kelly -- initially defended Porter, however a statement Wednesday condemned the alleged actions of Porter. 
 
 A source familiar with the matter said Porter's ex-girlfriend called White House counsel Don McGahn in recent weeks to inform him of abuse allegations and added that whatever McGahn did with the information clearly wasn't enough. Morale at the White House on Thursday was low, the individual said, and called it "communication malpractice" on the part of the administration with the strong statements defending Porter. 
 
 Read More ||||| The bottom line: Trump’s affection for his chief of staff is gone, and Kelly has lost the goodwill of much of his staff. The president is mulling potential replacements, though aides doubt he has it in him to actually fire the retired general. 
 
 The Rob Porter crisis has become a John Kelly crisis, and it has now totally engulfed the West Wing. White House staff — especially Porter's close friendship circle —are shell-shocked by the allegations of domestic abuse by the departing aide. President Trump is enraged about the situation, though he still feels that it hasn’t touched him. 
 
 Where it stands: Kelly still has not adequately answered when he became aware of the horrific allegations against Porter. Nor have the other senior officials who should have had visibility over this: White House counsel Don McGahn and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin. 
 
 The official White House line — that Kelly only became “fully aware” of the domestic assault allegations when the Daily Mail story broke — doesn’t pass the smell test. 
 
 Both of Porter’s ex-wives told the FBI about their claims. 
 
 There was a police report. 
 
 There was a restraining order. 
 
 There are photos. 
 
 All of this was part of his background checks which never passed muster. 
 
 The big picture: In any major corporation in America, Porter would have been escorted out the door the minute senior officials learned of these allegations. Everyone is entitled to their day in court, but in no normal corporation or White House could somebody continue serve under these conditions. And there is no organization in America more important than the White House. 
 
 Yes, but: It's probably not enough to get Kelly fired — because unlike other Trump aides, Kelly never wanted the job in the first place and would never fight to save it. And as a source close to the president told me, "That changes Trump’s calculus." 
 
 What we're hearing: It's not surprising that Trump would make noises about getting rid of Kelly. But sources close to the president don’t believe he has it in him to actually pull the trigger. 
 
 Yes, Kelly frustrates Trump. Yes, Trump complains about him. Yes, the two have never developed the personal chemistry — full of off-color jokes and nicknames like Hopey (Hope Hicks) and Reincey (Reince Priebus) — that Trump has formed with some of his other advisers. 
 
 And yes, there’s not a ton of personal affection for Kelly across the White House staff. 
 
 But everyone respects the service of a man Trump calls “a tough cookie.” And Kelly’s four star status inoculates him from the normal reaches of Trump’s wrath. 
 
 “Trump is not going to fire him,” the source close to the president said. “And does Trump have the stomach to do what he normally does when he’s fed up with them? He usually makes their lives miserable, publicly humiliates them. But now he’s up against somebody who doesn’t care and would happily leave.” 
 
 Quote “It’s like Russia and the United States in the Cold War. ‘What are you going to do, blow me up?’ They’re pointing guns at each other and nothing ever happens.” 
 
 The back story: When Kelly took over from Priebus as White House chief of staff, one of the changes that most pleased Trump was the change in tone of the media coverage. Gone was the narrative of a West Wing in utter chaos; and here was a four star general who was whipping an unruly operation into military grade condition. 
 
 The early goodwill has vanished. Kelly is getting pummeled for — as WashPost’s Phil Rucker put it — a series of credibility-damaging moves: 
 
 Falsely claiming that Democratic congresswoman Frederica Wilson had tried to take credit for securing the funding for an FBI building. 
 
 Calling Confederate general Robert E. Lee “honorable” and blaming the Civil War on a lack of compromise. 
 
 Describing illegal immigrants who didn’t apply for DACA as “too lazy to get off their asses.” 
 
 Uncritically and wholeheartedly defending White House staff secretary Rob Porter after both of his ex-wives went on the record accusing him of physical assault. 
 
 Between the lines: The handling of the Porter scandal is an example of how the White House is trying to save Kelly, not throw him under the bus. "The strategy is to try and inoculate Kelly and protect him," a source familiar with the White House strategy told me. "That's why you see WH's defense saying he wasn't aware until recently. Essentially placing blame on others.” 
 
 Kelly has told associates in the wake of the Porter crisis that we need to get to the bottom of who knew what and when — with the strong implication being that he wasn’t here when the process started. He says it’s an issue that preceded him. 
 
 Reality check: Good luck getting away with that. 
 
 None of the above instances — in and of themselves — have diminished Kelly in Trump’s eyes. What does bother Trump is when his subordinates get bad press. (That contributed to the swift deaths of many previous White House aides, including the short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci.) 
 
 Don't forget: The only thing Trump resents more than being handled by staff is when an aide tells the world they’re educating Trump about an issue he thinks he has mastered. Kelly managed to commit both sins in a recent interview with Fox’s Bret Baier, in which he said Trump’s views on immigration had evolved since the campaign, partly under Kelly’s tutelage. 
 
 A friend of the president’s told me Trump said this to him about Kelly: “Who does this guy think he is? I’ve evolved? I’ve been the same on this issue for 30 years. I knew about it before anybody did. I talked about it before anybody else did on the campaign. The only reason anybody talked about immigration was because of Trump.” 
 
 Behind the scenes: But even if Trump is annoyed, the reality that Kelly won't grovel to save his job is probably enough to keep him safe. Kelly has also helped himself by slightly loosening his grip on the comings and goings in the Oval Office. 
 
 Whereas in the early days he didn’t let anyone in without a reason, now it’s possible for a select few to walk in and see Trump in rare instances when they really need to see him — or he needs to see them. 
 
 As an administration official told me: 
 
 Quote “With Kelly, from day one, the tone has been ‘we have a duty to the country to be here despite how screwed up this place is.’” 
 
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– John Kelly finds himself squarely in the spotlight again after his defense of White House staff secretary Rob Porter as "a man of true integrity and honor" in the wake of domestic abuse allegations. President Trump's chief of staff has since pronounced himself appalled at the allegations and has issued a lengthy memo to White House staffers calling domestic violence "abhorrent," reports CNN. But his initial reaction continues to draw criticism, along with whispers that his days may be numbered. Details and developments: The problem: Kelly still hasn't "adequately answered" when he first learned of the allegations, notes Jonathan Swan at Axios, and the official line that he became "fully aware" only after a recent Daily Mail story "doesn't pass the smell test." For one thing, Porter's ex-wives had spoken to the FBI; plus a police report and a restraining order were filed. New version? The Washington Post reports that Kelly is pushing the narrative that he acted decisively once he learned the accusations had merit, but that contradicts the accounts of other White House officials. The AP reports that Kelly learned of the serious allegations against Porter last fall while looking into security clearances. All of the above is leading to quotes like this from Democratic Sen. Jon Tester: "If John Kelly is covering this up, he needs to be held accountable. He better have a really good reason. Otherwise, he's gone, too."