Wife of Ex-Trump Aide Rob Porter Blasts Husband: Hasn’t Done the Work to Earn Redemption After Abuse Scandal

Jennie Willoughby, the ex-wife of former White House staffer Rob Porter, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post criticizing how he has been able to return to the public spotlight after still showing no remorse for his alleged actions.

Porter recently wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal praising his old boss, President Donald Trump, and his approach to international trade.

In her blog post, Willoughby said Porter was at first verbally abusive to her shortly after getting married before getting physical with her. She got a “protective order with the police because he punched in the glass on our front door while I was locked inside.”

Rob’s fall from grace began when the media set about reporting on an old blog post I had written about the physical and emotional abuse I suffered during our marriage. Within hours, Colbie Holderness’s account of abuse as Rob’s first wife also came to light. These revelations instantly embroiled Washington and the White House in a scandal of who-knew-what-when, ultimately triggering an investigation into the protocol for awarding top security clearances. Rob denied the accusations.

I don’t believe Rob should be forever barred from using his considerable professional skills and knowledge to make a contribution to our society. But 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. Rob has yet to publicly show regret or contrition for his actions. Giving him a voice before he has done that critical work elevates his opinions above my and Colbie’s dignity.

“Ultimately, I don’t have an agenda for my ex-husband’s future career,” she clarified. “My goal is to help anyone in an abusive situation, and this includes helping perpetrators of abuse do what they can to seek help for themselves. 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.”

“We all crave a redemption story. 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,” Willoughby concluded.

During her interview on CNN, Willoughby said while it appears Porter has done some work to fix his past transgressions privately, he needs to be public so people can have the confidence to give him a second chance.