SECOND WHITE HOUSE AIDE RESIGNS

WASHINGTON— A second White House staffer in a week resigned Friday over domestic abuse claims, in a widening scandal that called into question the president’s judgment and tainted his chief of staff John Kelly and longtime aide Hope Hicks.

White House speechwriter David Sorensen denied his wife’s claims of abuse, but resigned hours after President Donald Trump was criticized for wishing staff secretary Rob Porter a “wonderful career” after he too resigned amid simi- lar accusations.

“We certainly wish him well, and it’s a tough time for him,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

That prompted a sharp rebuke from Democrats like Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who slammed the White House’s “culture of misogyny.”

Allegations denied

Deputy White House spokesperson Raj Shah said the White House only learned late Thursday about allegations against Sorensen, the speechwriter.

“We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today,” Shah said.

Sorensen’s ex-wife Jessica Corbett told The Washington Post that while they were married, he ran a car over her foot, extinguished a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grabbed her by her hair, but that she did not report the incidents due to her then-husband’s connections to law enforcement.