White House speechwriter resigns amid domestic abuse allegations

Trump’s comments about Porter echoed his defense of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who was accused of pursuing sexual relationships with teenage girls years ago and molesting two of them. “We absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was at the White House“. “And we hope he has a wonderful career”.

President Donald Trump commented publicly for the first time Friday on a White House staffer who resigned this week after allegations of domestic abuse by two former wives became public.

By Thursday, Porter was all but gone.

He declined to say whether Kelly knew about the allegations long before the reports were published. In that context, all the excuses from his staff about the abuse allegations against Rob Porter make sense-how could they possibly strongly condemn an accused domestic abuser when they work for one?

Though the Federal Bureau of Investigation never revoked Porter’s security clearance – which it could have – questions were raised about how Porter could be granted access to state secrets with such potentially incriminating blackmail material hanging over his head.

The president is reported to have asked his former chief of staff Reince Priebus how to manage a dysfunctional White House defined by infighting, controversy and firings. She responded to the Post that she had never done anything more than slap him and that her allegations of violence by him were “100 percent true”. Hope Hicks – the White House communications director and longtime Trump ally who is said to be dating Porter – has also drawn the ire of the president, according to reports.

“We wish him well”, he said in his first public remarks about the claims against ex-White House staff secretary Rob Porter.

“Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations”, said Raj Shah, principal deputy secretary.

“In either of those cases, a man was hired knowing that he may have committed acts of domestic violence”, Zenkus says.

The retired general, who had been heading the Department of Homeland Security, was expected to bring order to the chaotic Trump White House.

Mr Porter told Mr Kelly his ex-wives were saying false things about him.

A number of politicians criticised Mr Kelly, and a leading women’s group called on him to resign. The bureau had reportedly known about the accusations against Porter for several months, “raising questions about why he was allowed to remain in his post“, according to the paper.