One of the ex-wives of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused of abuse last year, criticized Porter for his “seemingly benign and inconspicuous return” to public life after he publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
Jennie Willoughby, who married Porter in 2009, claimed the op-ed on President Trump’s policies toward China was concerning because he has yet to address the allegations of abuse. For her, the op-ed was not “benign or inconspicuous,” she said.
“Rob’s sudden return to the public eye is deeply troubling to me, because he has yet to candidly address the thing that should — that must — come first: his personal conduct during his two marriages,” Willoughby wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post Thursday.
Last year, the Daily Mail published a report claiming Porter called Willoughby a “fucking bitch” while they were on their honeymoon and grabbed her naked out the shower on one occasion. The report also featured a protective order that she obtained in 2010. In a separate report shortly thereafter, Porter’s first wife Colbie Holderness said the former White House aide had punched her face, choked her, and other abuses.
Willoughby asserted Thursday that Porter shouldn’t be “forever barred from using his considerable professional skills and knowledge to make a contribution to our society,” but she argued that “giving him a voice” before publicly apologizing or showing remorse for his behavior “elevates his opinions above my and Colbie’s dignity.”
Willoughby said she doesn’t “have an agenda” for her ex-husband’s future career, and said that she was ultimately trying to help others who are in abusive situations.
“Seeing someone walk a path of growth and recovery could open a national narrative on what healing looks like — on both sides of an abusive relationship,” Willoughby wrote. “After that, there will be time for op-eds on trade policy.”
“We all crave a redemption story,” Willoughby wrote. “We want to see people take ownership of their inadequacies and sins because we want to believe we, too, can be redeemed for our own. But true redemption is not a given. It is earned.”
