David Sorensen, a member of the Trump administration’s speechwriting team, has resigned after being accused of domestic abuse, a White House official says.
He is the second administration official to resign this week over domestic abuse allegations, after top White House staffer Rob Porter resigned on Wednesday.
According to a White House official, Sorensen’s job with the Council on Environmental Quality did not require a security clearance, but his background check was ongoing.
The Washington Post first reported Sorensen’s resignation Friday evening, and reported that his ex-wife alleged that “he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine’s coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life.”
The Washington Post reported that it had been working on a story regarding the allegations made by Sorensen’s ex-wife prior to Sorensen’s resignation.
Sorensen denied the allegations in a lengthy statement to the Post.
“In fact, I was the victim of repeated physical violence during our marriage, not her,” he added, saying he had consulted with an attorney and was “considering legal options to address her defamation.”
The White House said in a statement that it had been made aware of the allegations before The Washington Post reached out regarding the story.
“Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement Friday. “We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today.”
The White House was already under scrutiny this week over its handling of Porter’s departure. West Wing staff — including chief of staff John Kelly — initially defended Porter despite the allegations of abuse by both of his ex-wives. Photos of one of Porter’s ex-wives with a black eye surfaced publicly, which eventually led to the White House expressing concern about the allegations. Porter has denied the allegations.
On Thursday evening, Kelly sent an email to White House staff about domestic violence, writing, “While we are all processing the shocking and troubling allegations made against a former White House staffer, I want you to know that we all take matters of domestic violence seriously. Domestic violence is abhorrent and has no place in our society.”
Senior aides knew for months about the allegations levied against Porter, even as his stock in the West Wing continued to rise, multiple sources have told CNN. CNN previously reported that a source familiar with the matter said Porter’s ex-girlfriend called White House counsel Donald McGahn in recent weeks to inform him of abuse allegations, and added that whatever McGahn did with the information clearly wasn’t enough.
“I think it’s fair to say we all could have done better dealing with this over the last few days,” Shah told reporters Thursday at the daily White House briefing.
Trump said Friday that he was “surprised” by the claims against Porter, but he praised the former top staffer for his time working in the administration.
“I found out about it recently and I was surprised by it,” Trump said. “We certainly wish him well. It’s obviously a very tough time for him. He did a very good job while he was in the White House.”