Ex-wife of Rob Porter fires back at White House amid abuse scandal

[DonViejo]

Jennie Willoughby: 'President Trump Will Not Diminish My Truth'

By JENNIE WILLOUGHBY 12:41 PM EST

Willoughby is a former school teacher whose passion is the resiliency of the human spirit. She writes atBorneBackCeaselessly.com

On Friday, a friend and I watched as the President of the United States sat in the Oval Office and praised the work of my ex-husband, Rob Porter, and wished him future success. I can’t say I was surprised. But when Donald Trump repeated twice that Rob declared his innocence, I was floored. What was his intent in emphasizing that point? My friend turned to me and said, “The President of the United States just called you a liar.”

Yes. And so he did.

On Saturday morning, following the overnight resignation of another White House staffer after his ex-wife came forward with her story of abuse, the President Tweeted:

Link to tweet

There it is again. The words “mere allegation” and “falsely accused” meant to imply that I am a liar. That Colbie Holderness is a liar. That the work Rob was doing in the White House was of higher value than our mental, emotional or physical wellbeing. That his professional contributions are worth more than the truth. That abuse is something to be questioned and doubted.

Everyone wants to talk about how the White House and former colleagues defended Rob. Of course they did! They valued and respected him. The truth would be dissonant to everything they believed to be true about the man they knew. The truth would be devastating. And denial is easier than devastation.

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http://time.com/5143589/rob-porter-ex-wife-trump-domestic-violence/

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Tomorrow Kelly will

Empty Barrel this truthful person.

[dewsgirl]

4. +1

[Canoe52]

2. For the white house, I think denial is just their everyday life.

[HipChick]

3. She should go on all the talk shows...

[spanone]

5. the liar-in-chief calling the victims liars....

the kind of moral fiber one would expect from a trump -0-

[Stuart G]

7. You have said the absolute truth.....the kind of more fiber..expect from a trump..or

McCarthy, or Nixon, or Bush Jr. (we do not torture) or whatever piece of human manure you can think of.

Calling the victims liars, in this way is what Trump is/was/and always will be. I guess it would be ok, if he was still in charge of his real estate, or casinos. and not the President of the United States

but he is. This is truly embarrassing. beyond words.

[iluvtennis]

22. Same thing Humpty Dumpty/white house admin did for the pedophile Roy Moore. GAH

[rickford66]

6. Didn't Trump himself propose laws easier to sue those who lie about you?

I think libel and slander apply here. Don't forget the fun of discovery.

[MaryMagdaline]

8. Denial is better than devastation

Yes, the guilty make us complicit.

[tblue37]

9. Porter's ridiculous explanation of the other ex-wife's black eye:

The FBI also asked Porter to explain Holderness’s black eye, according to a person familiar with the conversation. It’s unclear what he told investigators. He has privately told others that they were arguing over a vase, and she was somehow hit with the vase.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/top-white-house-officials-knew-of-abuse-allegations-against-top-aide-for-months/2018/02/08/2faddcf2-0ce9-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?__twitter_impression=true

[Skittles]

12. arguing over a vase?

[tblue37]

13. And then the vase "somehow" hit her. How could that happen, hmmm? nt

[flibbitygiblets]

21. I'm sure Trump will say she hit herself to make him look bad. He's the gaslighter in chief.

Seriously, I have met some f-ed up men in my life, but this guy wrote the book on gaslighting victims of abuse.

Gaslighting tactics:

--Acting like his opinions are undisputed fact, and then quickly moving on
--Turning the facts upside down (trying to make it look like the abuser is actually the victim and vice-versa).
--Taking his case public--to try to get everyone else to take his side
--Using his position as a bully pulpit to discourage victims from fighting back

The closest old Tronald Dump could get to even acknowledging that domestic abuse exists is the part about "some are true". Hey Trump! WHICH ones are true, since you seem to know so much about what happened, can you please set the record straight for us, oh all-knowing one?

Asshole.

[They_Live]

23. Somehow he hit her Face.

It's all in the enunciation.

[NewJeffCT]

33. While I don't buy his explanation for a second

I can see how arguing over a vase can lead to a black eye.

Both parties are pulling on the vase because they think it is "their" vase - think a tug of war. Husband is suddenly afraid the vase my break if he pulls any harder and lets go. The vase then snaps back and hits his surprised wife in the eye as she falls backwards because she's no longer pulling against anything.

While it wasn't an argument, I still remember when my ex-wife and I were both holding onto something that I think we were trying to fix and she let go for some reason and I ended up getting clocked really hard in the jaw. My jaw was hurting for a week afterwards.

[heaven05]

34. oh

Thank for the 'splainin', yet two more said they were attacked bytecode this POS. I wonder just how many have been abused by the POS posing as a potus..18 at last count...I have understood to be the truth.

[NewJeffCT]

36. as I said above

I don't buy what he said for a second.

But, having an eye, nose or jaw bruised because of an argument over a vase can happen.

[longship]

14. I guess he showed her a vase to her face.

What an utter dick!

[mnmoderatedem]

16. maybe he should have claimed

that she viciously attacked his fist with her eye socket.

[Stuart G]

10. k and r...for exposure.

[Skittles]

11. I do not think the truth would be "devastating" to them

more like simply inconvenient

[lunatica]

15. If anyone wants to know why men got away with

Spousal and child abuse you get everything you need to know from Trump’s tweets about it.

As a wife you were supposed to just take it and shut up.

I believe I read someplace that most womens’ murders are at the hand of their spouses or boyfriends. And I bet all or most of those murderers claimed innocence.

[Control-Z]

20. One thing to add.

I bet most of them claimed "self defense". It is a common claim by abusers and would not necessarily preclude a claim of "innocence".

"And I bet all or most of those murderers claimed innocence."

[BigmanPigman]

17. If they pulled this shit before the last Women's March

I have a feeling that a sea of pink hats would have flowed into the White House and it would not have ended well for the fucking moron. We will NOT forget come the midterms!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Excellent essay and spot on.

[Fla Dem]

19. Trump can't even remotely suggest Porter's ex-wives are telling the truth.

Trumps' reasoning is that Porter proclaims his innocence so it can't be true. Trump has also claimed all the accusations against him are untrue. If he acknowledged Porter's wive's accusations, in essence he would be giving up his only defense against the accusations made about him.

[bobbieinok]

24. Who can STILL believe T values or respects women!!

And there are still women who support Trump!!

[mtngirl47]

25. Jennie--I'm sorry you're having to go through this.

We believe you. The White House and it's workers and residents do not represent who we are as a country.

[aka-chmeee]

26. Does anyone REALLY believe that Elementary School Trump wrote this? nt

[world wide wally]

27. Donnie and his pack of lying theives now appearing at the WH Bar & Grill

[Hekate]

28. Bring it back to this: the FBI flunked him out. The women did not come forward: the FBI found them.

The "due process" all these poor abused men want has already taken place, because it consists of an FBI security clearance investigation that Porter ans so many others have failed.

They failed.

Fck the ratfckers for saying otherwise.

[Pepsidog]

29. Denial is easier than devastation should be republicans motto

[Cha]

30. Jennie Willoughby really

articulates her feelings well. This is an excellent rebuttal to the stupid '"atta boy Rob-we don't believe the women" that repubs are out trying to push on the world.. looking at you ben stein.

She is a force to be reckoned with.. Rob Porter chose the wrong women to abuse.

Thank you for this, Don

[Grammy23]

31. So tRumps argument is that a firm denial

is all it takes to get the heat off of the abuser? I don’t know if he has paid much attention but many if not most people accused of serious crimes almost always deny they did it. Occasionally, if someone is caught red handed, they confess, avoid a trial and get sentenced by the judge. But most put up the argument that they did not do it. Then they go to trial to let a jury decide.

So if you say that you are innocent loud enough and long enough are we to conclude the case is closed? Playing by your rules, tRump? All you have to do is deny?? Interesting logic there.

You talked about something called Due Process. So what happened to the Due Process when you were accused by a dozen women of inappropriate behavior, groping, assault? If you were so sure of your innocence, why were you afraid to face your accusers in court?

I really wish someone would ask him about that.

[DallasNE]

32. Use Of "Mere"

Doesn't just call her a liar. It implies that she has no standing to even make a credible accusation. It is an outright deplorable thing to say. It is a deliberate act of cowardness.

[ProfessorGAC]

35. The "Due Process" Drones Got On My Last Nerve

It was a constant theme on CSPAN WJ yesterday.

Thing these dullards don't get is that a JUDGE granted an order of protection against Porter. Judges grant those orders, not because they don't like the color of some guy's tie, but because there is credible evidence the guy is a threat and bad guy.

Hence, HE DID GET DUE PROCESS and a judge decided he's a slimeball.

Apparently, those facts got in the way of their tiny minds' ability to process information.

[Hugin]

37. Prisons are full of innocent people.

According to the prisoners.

[dlk]

38. Birds of a Feather Flock Together, Including Abusive Women-Haters in the White House

One symptom of malignant narcissism is a complete lack of empathy for anyone else. If Trump actually bothered to fake any degree of concern for the women, he would be shining a spotlight on his own transgressions and the egregious lack of accountability for them. He wants to continue his abusive behavior whenever he feels like it. He's entitled!