David Sorensen, the former White House speechwriter who was forced to resign in February after his ex-wife claimed he assaulted her during their marriage, has sued his accuser for $4 million in damages.
Sorensen announced late Tuesday he filed the lawsuit against ex-wife Jessica Corbett in Massachusetts, where he now resides.
The suit alleges “defamation, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and tortious interference with contract and seeks $4 million in damages and a public retraction of her false, baseless claims,” he said in a statement.
In February, Sorensen abruptly resigned after Corbett alleged her former husband assaulted her several times during their 2 1/2-year marriage.
But Sorensen told the Washington Examiner at the time he “never committed violence of any kind against” his accuser, and instead was physically assaulted by her more than once.
“Big picture view: by all accounts, there’s no doubt this was a very tumultuous relationship. We had a lot of problems and they got worse as time went on and we had big loud fights. We said a lot of nasty things to each other and that’s for sure,” Sorensen said. “But what I will say is that I never — with her or with any woman in my entire life — have been violent in any way. And even just with verbal exchanges, it was a two-way street. She initiated most of the fights. She had a very short temper, but there was no power imbalance.”
“Although I had hoped to never have to think about or discuss the woman who spent years physically attacking, threatening, and lying about me — and relentlessly and cruelly bombarding me with unimaginable fits of rage — this incident is an opportunity to highlight the grossly under-reported and unacknowledged issue of female-on-male domestic violence,” he said.
Sorensen provided pictures that he said show injuries to his face and neck. He announced Monday that he passed a polygraph test and his former employer, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, publicly stated he would rehire Sorensen.
Sorensen said his decision to resign from his White House post should not implicate guilt and was only done because of the unique situation he was in at the White House.
