“Allegations of domestic abuse levied against top White House staffer Rob Porter by his ex-wives were known among senior aides to President Donald Trump for months, even as his stock in the West Wing continued to rise,” CNN reports.

“A scramble ensued inside the West Wing to defend him when the claims became public this week, the sources said. That effort continues even after his resignation.”

Vanity Fair reports White House chief of staff John Kelly’s “decision to go to bat for Porter deeply frustrated White House staffers… He was supposed to be the West Wing’s resident grown-up, but staffers are increasingly questioning Kelly’s judgment.”

Vanity Fair: “Trump has recently told advisers he wants a ‘killer’ to steer the White House’s response to Robert Mueller’s investigation and craft a midterm election message for him to stump on this fall. For Trump, there’s a growing urgency to fill the role. His efforts to stymie Mueller’s probe have so far failed, and the specter of impeachment looms if Democrats win back the House in November. Ivanka, who’s been frustrated with Chief of Staff John Kelly, has told her father that he needs people around him that will put his interests above their own.”

“The president’s top choice for the strategist position is Jason Miller, who served as communications director for Trump’s presidential campaign.”

Said an outside adviser: “He wants a killer, and Jason is a killer.”

[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]Miller withdrew from consideration of a White House post after it was revealed during the transition that he had an extramarital affair with former Trump aide A.J. Delgado.[/alert]

A new Qunnipiac poll finds President Trump’s approval rate at a negative 40% to 55%, still under 50%, but his best overall score in seven months.

Key finding: For the first time in a year, voters say 48% to 41% that Trump is more responsible for the state of the economy than former President Obama.

Greg Sargent: “Here’s where we are today: President Trump’s allies fear that refusing an interview with the special counsel, as his lawyers want, could trigger a destructive showdown that could go all the way to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the White House is still mulling whether to release Rep. Adam Schiff’s rebuttal to the Nunes memo — which means suppressing it remains a real possibility.”

“Both are a reminder that, generally speaking, it remains unknown just how far Trump will go to evade accountability. And that’s why you should pay attention to the argument under way among center-right writers over just how much damage Trump is doing and just how complicit the GOP is in enabling that damage.”