UPDATED: Trump staff secretary with history of violence against wives RESIGNS!
UPDATED: He’s out!
A senior White House official announced Wednesday he is resigning following allegations by his two ex-wives of physical and emotional abuse.
The official, Rob Porter, served as the staff secretary and often controlled the paper flow to President Trump’s desk, along with his daily schedule. Porter also oversaw the White House’s policy implementation process and worked closely with Chief of Staff John F. Kelly to try to instill discipline in the chaotic West Wing.
Yeah, about that discipline thing…
The Daily Mail is out with a harrowing account of spousal abuse from Jennifer Willoughby, ex-wife of White House staff secretary Rob Porter:
A physical assault took place on December 22, 2010.
Willoughby said :
[It happened] just after our first anniversary. I cannot remember what the fight was about but I excused myself from the fight in a way that was typical at that time. I certainly was not meek and mild and said, ”I’m not going to fight you anymore” and stormed off and went to take a shower.
He was not done fighting with me. It was a glass shower door, he opened it and dragged me by my shoulders out of the shower to yell. Immediately upon seeing my reaction to that, he released me and apologized but it doesn’t take away that he was angry enough that that happened.
The attack upset her so greatly that she refused to join his family on a Christmas vacation they were leaving for the following day. She also asked him to leave them home.
He was very contrite and apologetic at that point. In all of the anger and all of the name-calling, he had never physical with me.
Willoughby tells DailyMail.com that Porter called her last year and demanded she take down her blog posts that referred to their marriage – she did not name him.
He asked her what she had told the FBI about their relationship during her interview with the FBI over his security clearance in February 2017.
The Daily Mail bullet points many not-so-fun facts about Porter, including
- Last week, DailyMail.com revealed that Porter and Hope Hicks are dating, and were seen kissing in a cab on the way back to her apartment
- He has never been given security clearance by the FBI because of his dark past, sources tell DailyMail.com
- Willoughby says she was ‘walking on eggshells’ during their marriage due to his explosive anger
- On June 19, 2010, she filed a protective order against Rob because he violated their separation agreement and refused to leave their apartment
And then there is this, tweeted in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning by Ryan Grim:
Senior White House aide Rob Porter physically assaulted two ex-wives, they tell @theintercept. Full story to come in the morning.
His first wife, Colbie Holderness, provided these photos from a vacation they took together in Florence, Italy: pic.twitter.com/tl3TbyGA8Y
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) February 7, 2018
The Daily Mail appears to have scooped The Intercept:
- Colbie Holderness, 37, a senior analyst for the U.S. government and the first wife of Rob Porter, spoke on the record to DailyMail.com about her five-year marriage
- ‘He was never physically abusive until our honeymoon and that floored me,’ Holderness told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview
- ‘He would throw me down on the bed, then put his full body weight on top of me, then grind a knee or elbow into my body, expressing rage,’ she claims
Colbie Holderness, 37, who is a senior analyst for the U.S. government, spoke on the record to DailyMail.com about her five-year marriage following the on-the-record allegations by Porter’s second wife, Jennifer Willoughby.
She confirmed that she had also been interviewed by the FBI about her marriage after Porter was tapped for his current White House position and required security clearance which he has not received.
Last week, DailyMail.com revealed that Porter and White House Director of Communications Hope Hicks are dating, and were seen kissing in a cab on the way back to her apartment.
We are long past the stage of being shocked, appalled, and infuriated that a violent abuser who is unable to get a security clearance would be among Donald Trump’s closest staffers. It’s not likely that Porter will be ousted by a game show host who sees women as sex objects, Donald Trump.
