Trump silence stirs questions
PRESS SECRETARY Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to explain Monday why President Trump didn’t personally denounce domestic violence after two of his aides resigned amid shocking spousal abuse claims.
“Above all, the President supports victims of domestic violence and believes everyone should be treated fairly and with due process,” Sanders told reporters, declining to answer repeated questions about why her boss hasn’t spoken out himself.
Sanders’ comments came in response to reports that senior White House officials knew for months about allegations that disgraced staff secretary Rob Porter and speechwriter David Sorensen had physically and emotionally abused their ex-wives.
Both Porter and Sorensen abruptly stepped down last week as photographic and material evidence surfaced of their alleged abuse.
Sanders insisted that the White House only found out about the disturbing claims against Porter on Tuesday evening.
“Within 24 hours his resignation was announced,” Sanders said.
But Sanders declined to comment on why both she and White House chief of staff John Kelly issued glowing statements about Porter on Tuesday and Wednesday — even though his ex-wife, Colbie Holderness, had produced a photo of a black eye (inset) he allegedly gave her while they were on vacation in Italy in the early 2000s. Sanders also refused to answer questions about reports White House lawyer Don McGahn had known about the claims against Porter and Sorensen for months.
Also Monday, ABC News reported that Porter tried to downplay the abuse allegations against him, telling White House officials last week that the black eye Holderness had a picture of was accidental and the result of a fall.
While Trump hasn’t made public reference to the women, he did sing Porter’s praises on Friday. He told reporters that Porter, 40, had done a “very good job” and that this is “obviously a very tough time for him.”
“He also as you probably know, says he is innocent, and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he is innocent,” said Trump, who has himself denied allegations of sexual misconduct from nearly two dozen women. Trump continued in the same vein after Sorensen’s resignation, taking to Twitter on Saturday to complain that “lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation.”
“Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?” Trump tweeted, suddenly concerning himself with a legal concept that he’s had a penchant for ignoring when it comes to his political foes.
Jennie Willoughby, Porter’s second ex-wife who has also accused him of abuse, wrote in an essay Sunday that “my strength and worth are not dependent on outside belief — the truth exists whether the President accepts it or not.”