Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Former White House aide Rob Porter’s ex-wife Jennie Willoughby has called for Porter to make efforts at genuine “redemption” after he returned to the spotlight with a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, more than a year after being fired amid domestic abuse allegations. “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 published in The Washington Post. Porter’s sudden return to the public sphere when he “has yet to publicly show regret or contrition” for his alleged abuse, she said, means his “voice” was given priority over the “dignity” of the two former wives whom he allegedly abused. “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,” she wrote. Porter’s ouster from the White House—which came following graphic abuse allegations by two ex-wives, Willoughby and Colbie Holderness—triggered scrutiny of top Trump administration officials after it was revealed that the allegations against him were uncovered in FBI background checks for his security clearance.