porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby, said she spoke to the fbi. >> i told them the details of my marriage, including verbal and emotional abuse and including an incident when he pulled me out of the shower. they were made aware of the protective order i signed in june of 2010. they were made aware of another time when i had called the police to our home after a domestic disturbance. >> the white house repeated porter's denials. said he was not denied a security clearance. >> his background investigation was ongoing.

porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby tells "the washington post" newspaper that porter once dragged her from the shower after an argument. >> he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. immediately on seeing the terror in my face, retracted and apologized and changed composure immediately. >> the allegation is years and years of abuse. both women say they told fbi agents about the abuse during porter's security clearance

porter's second ex-wife, jennifer willoughby, told the "daily mail" porter dragged her wet and naked out of the shower and was verbally abusive, an account she confirms to nbc news. nbc news has also obtained a 2010 protective order where willoughby told police during their separation porter ignored her multiple requests to leave her home and at one point punched in the glass on the door. "i called the police, afraid that he would break in," she said. mounting questions about how porter was given such close access to the president and the documents that crossed his desk. a former white house official says chief of staff john kelly was aware of the allegations of abuse before the story broke. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news it is believed porter was never given full security clearance, although it's not clear why. the administration now on defense. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made and one that he was not pressured to do but one that he made on his own. >> reporter: the white house is not commenting on porter's security clearance. one other layer

and a police protective order filed by the other ex-wife, jennifer willoughby in 2010. she talked about why she took out that protective order. >> he came to the apartment where i was staying and refused to leave. and after he did ultimately leave and i closed the door and locked it behind him, he returned a moment later and punched in the glass. >> cnn has learned in recent weeks a third woman reached out to the white house with more allegations of abuse by porter and a warning that porter might harm the woman he's now dating, white house director hope hicks. when the news broke tuesday, the white house defended porter strongly. john kelly called him, quote, a man of true integrity and honor. after seeing the black eye photograph and the ensuing scandal, kelly then said he was shocked by the allegations. allegations it turned out he first heard about last november. do not mcgahn has known about problems with porter and his exwise longer than that, for more than a year. to be clear, senior white house officials but this these accusations and they protected porter and pr

jennifer willoughby is not hiding. she's submitted to an extensive television interview earlier tonight on cnn. she has appeared on video now in multiple interviews. you can look at her. you can judge her credibility. but you can't do that with john kelly because john kelly is highing. john kelly is afraid of stepping up to the microphone looking into those cameras and answering questions about what he knew and when he knew it and why he continued to fight for rob porter's job even after he saw the black eye photos. >> joining us now ruth marcus, deputy editorial page editor from the "washington post" and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama and a professor at the university of alabama school of law, andness price spokesperson for the national security council and a former cia analyst. he's an msnbc national security analyst. ruth, i just want to get your reaction because this is a moving story with new elements coming out by the hour. your reaction about where this story stands tonigh

jennifer willoughby is not hiding. she's submitted to an extensive television interview earlier tonight on cnn. she has appeared on video now in multiple interviews. you can look at her. you can judge her credibility. but you can't do that with john kelly because john kelly is highing. john kelly is afraid of stepping up to the microphone looking into those cameras and answering questions about what he knew and when he knew it and why he continued to fight for rob porter's job even after he saw the black eye photos. >> joining us now ruth marcus, deputy editorial page editor from the "washington post" and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama and a professor at the university of alabama school of law, andness price spokesperson for the national security council and a former cia analyst. he's an msnbc national security analyst. ruth, i just want to get your reaction because this is a moving story with new elements coming out by the hour. your reaction about where this story stands tonigh

porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby tells "the washington post" newspaper that porter once dragged her from the shower after an argument. >> he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. immediately on seeing the terror in my face, retracted and apologized and changed composure immediately. >> the allegation is years and years of abuse. both women say they told fbi agents about the abuse during porter's security clearance investigation. they go back and check with former wives. they say they told the fbi about all of it. fox news cannot confirm they got that clearance. listen to this. then we're told that the fbi went to the white house and said here are the allegations. and that that was some time ago. months ago. only once the picture came out did anything change. john roberts is live for us at the white house this afternoon. quite a web of people close to this president, john. >> yeah, there's no question about that. we're talking about the very closest orbit in an around the president. what we're trying to do and what we're hoping to do

. >> that was porter's second wife jennifer willoughby. this is his first wife colby holderness with a black eye. and this is what white house jeef chief of staff -- chief of staff john kelly said yesterday. rob porter is a man of true integrity and honor and i can't say enough good things about him. overnight he amended that some. i was shocked by the new allegations released today against rob porter. there is no place for domestic violence in our society. i stand by my previous comments of the rob porter i have come to know. now leave aside the standing by the integrity and honor part. despite the allegations. focus on the shock part. why was john kelly shocked? how could he be shocked? look at the timeline here. in january of 2017, both ex-wives shared stories with the fbi. in the fall of 2017 kelly and top aides became aware of abuse allegations and security clearance issues. and in recent weeks politico reports an ex-girlfriend contacted the white house counsel. so john kelly knew or should have known about the allegations, yet did no

was made in regards to rob porter the fbi talked to both of the ex-wives, one of the ex-wives jennifer willoughbyed a complaint. credible sources, there were credible information that this had happened. the white house chose to keep rob porter on board. >> that's the point. this is the process. >> this is the process, this is due process and the fact that is, again in this tweet this morning, no mention of the women. >> no mention of the women. >> somebody's life who is ruined, talk a lot of women who are strong enough to talk about it like jennifer willoughby. >> the white house has defended rob porter, roy moore in alabama and those allegations of child molestation, allegations against steve bannon of violence. of course, the largest picture in the center is the president himself who has been accused of sexual advances, unwanted advances to more than a dozen women. again, this is the response from the president weighing in now. is there no such thing any longer as due process? no mention of the women now these allegations of domestic abusz. >> coming right after speech writer david sorensen lef

this is jennifer willoughby's reasons. excuse me because there is some language here buchlt this is her point. the first time he called me an f'ing bitch was on our honeymoon. i found out years later he had kicked his first wife on theirs. a month later he physically prevented me from leaving the house. less than two months after that i filed a protective order with police because he punched in the glass in our front door while i was locked inside. we bought a house to make up for it. after our first anniversary, he pulled me from the shower yelling at me. everyone loved him. strangers complimented him to me every time we went out but in my home, the abuse was insidious. the threats were personal. the terror was real and yet i stayed. when i tried to get help, i was counseled to consider carefully how, what i said, might affect his career. so, i kept my mouth shut and stayed. i was told, yes, he was deeply flawed. but then again, so was i. and so i worked on myself and i stayed. if he was a monster all the time, perhaps it

the second ex-wife is jennifer willoughby, we just saw her speak obviously a few moments ago.he married porter in 2009. she also described to me deep emotional abuse from porter and she also said that things sometimes got physical, for example, in 2010, when he punched a glass pane in the front door and the police had to come. she says the police recommended she take out a protective order against him, so she did that. and later in the year is when she says that the shower incident happened, where they had a fight. she was in the shower afterwards and he came in and grabbed her by the shoulders, making her feel very frightened. now, john, an additional twist to the story is that both of the ex-wives tell me they were contacted last year, by a woman claiming to be porter's ex-girlfriend and that she told them that she was also abused by porter and that she was essentially reaching out to them for help. this is one message that she wrote to one of the ex-wives. she said, i work in politics, and despite rob's repeated abuse, some of which i think may be known about, he continues

so here is jennifer willoughby. >> do you believe her? >> of course i believe her. of course i believe her. >> you think he's capable of that? >> i believe her. >> what would it mean to you when you sat with her and the two of you looked across the table from each other and shared this experience. >> it is so isolating to be -- i mention the shame but it is also the isolation that you don't -- you don't really feel like you could talk to anybody about it or anybody would understand. and so to meet colby and to hear her story and recognize that we both had that experience was a release. >> reporter: so the first comments from the president today about rob porter fit a pattern we've seen a number of times. and that may be just the way he thinks about the issues or reflex when asked about the controversial situations. >> thank you for your reporting. kelly o'donnell at the white house. it is hard to overstate how long senior members of the white house may have known about what they now call shocking and troubling allegations about rob porter. according to the washingto

. >> you'll hear more from porter's ex-wife jennifer willoughby in a "today" show interview. >>> the l.a. fire department says the blaze was reported at 5:30 p.m. in bell air. it started in the attic of a two-story mansion that became fully if gulfed. one firefighter was transported to a hospital with burn injuries. the nearly 10,000 square foot home was estimated to be worth $18 million with five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. >>> eagles quarterback sydney jones lost his cellphone during the parade of champion wheres, and it took a team effort and a social media post to get it back in his pocket. >> here's the story. jones is walking along the parade route when his phone fell out of his pocket. someege lgz fans noticed it, grabbed it off the street and then they posted this. jones tweeted out a thank you to those fans when he got his phone back. i wonder if he had a lock on it. could have taken a lot of pictures. >> but kudos to those fans. >>> a victorious mess. a sea of trash left behind. >>> government reopened. breaking overnight lawmakers work through the night to make sure worke

porter's second ex-wife jennifer willoughby told the "daily mail" porter dragged her wet out of a shower and was verbally abusive. an account she confirmed to nbc news. nbc news also obtained a 2010 protective order with willoughby told police during their separation, porter ignored her multiple requests to leave her home and at one point punched on the glass on the door. "i called the police afraid he would break in," she said. tonight, mounting questions about how porter was given such close access to the president and documents that crossed his desk. a former white house official says chief of staff john kelly was aware of the allegations of abuse before the story broke. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news it is believed porter was never given full security clearance although it's not clear why. the administration now on defense. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made. and one that he was not pressured to do but one that he made on his own. >> reporter: the white house is not commenting on porter's security clearance. one other layer to this, porter is re

thumbs up or thumbs down >> reporter: tonigone of porter's ex-wives is speaking out to nbc news jennifer willoughby says porters wa physically and emotionally abusive to her, concerns she shared with the fbi conducting the background check. >> i shared the details of my marriagee been in the interviews that came out. f could he potentially be blackmailed. that question? >> i believe that the people who had the power to blackmail him would be women who had been in personal relationships with him.n short, the answer could be maybe. >> reporter: porter has called the allegations false and part of an organized >> i'm not surprised that that's his reaction. i think it's really unfortunate. and i hope that in light of everything that is coming out, he will be able to face some of the issues that he deals with. >> reporter: the white house says the president learned about the matter tuesday night. meanwhile, communications director hope hicks who was reportedly dating porter helped craft the initial statements in his defense. the white house says at times hicks recused herself but didn't disclose any deta

story and to recognize that we both had that experience was a release. >> reporter: and so jennifer willoughby saying she believes the injuries depicted at the photo were at the hands of her ex-husband. so for this opportunity and people to assess her story up against what the white house has been saying is part of what makes this so politically fraught for chief john kelly and the white house, hallie. >> kelly o'donnell at the white house north lawn. thank you. i'm joined by chairman of the american conservative union, full disclosure, his wife is senior communications adviser to the president. your group obviously works a lot with this white house on policy and you work with the personnel. >> and i know the people involved. >> yeah, you do. when these allegations came to light apparently long ago at the white house, should rob porter have been immediately dismissed? >> i think there's two questions here. when you go to work for the president as i have done, they do a full fbi background check on you. they're what's called raw reports. remember in the clinton years when the fbi files they fou

allegations and documents emerged depicting verbal abuse suffered by two of porter's ex-wives, jennifer willoughby and colby holderness. in a june 2010 statement to arlington, virginia, authorities, willoughby said porter punched the glass on their front door. "i called the wrote. "i was afraid he would break in." willoughby wrote on instagram this april, "just after our one-year anniversary, he pulled me naked and dripping from the shower to yell at me. when i tried to get help i was counseled to consider carefully how what i said might affect his career, and so i kept my mouth shut and stayed." >> is he going to be leaving the white house any time soon? >> he is going to be leaving the white house. it won't be immediate, but he is resigning from the white house, but he's going to stay on to ensure there is a smooth transition. >> reporter: porter called the allegations outrageous and simply false. as staff secretary, porter was one of president trump's closest the conduit for all written information given to mr. trump. before working at the whiter was to utah republican senator orrin hatch. >> i

jennifer willoughby says the abuse began shortly after she married porter in 2009. black eye after their 2003 ed their accounts to nbc news with holderness claiming that porter choked and verbally abused her. this morning there are growing questions about when white house officials first learned of the allegations. according to one former white house official chief of staff john kelly was made aware of some of the allegations of domestic abuse months earlier. kelly defended porter tuesday, calling him a man of true integrity, but overnight saying in a statement in part there's no place for domestic violence in our society. one white house official says porter could be out as early as today. meantime senator leaders reached a broad long-term spending deal just one day before tonight's government shutdown deadline. the senate deal would add hundreds of billions of dollars in military and domestic spending over the next two years. just about 24 hours ago, president trump threatened a shutdown if he didn't get his way on immigration. that issue is not addressed in th st

his second wife jennifer willoughby detailed it with the "washington post." >> within a matter of a couple of weeks after being married, i was aware of his temper. he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. >> reporter: initially the administration came to porter's defense. sanders described him e e exemplary character. willoughby told fbi investigators in january of 2017 about what she says was his abusive past. the fbi shared those allegations with the white house ten months later. >> i told them all of the details of my marriage including verbal and emotional abuse. they were also made aware of the protective order that i signed. >> sources tell cbs full security orders were delayed. it's not clear whether he ever received full clearance. as staff secretary he would vet every single don't but it got to the president's desk including classified materials. >> i'd be surprised you could do it without full security clearance. the staff secretary is sort of what makes the wheels turn every single day. >> cbs news has also learned that porter is da

jennifer willoughby says it began shortly after they married in 2008.ye after their 2003 wedding. both women affirmed accounts to nbc news, alleging she was choked and verbally abused. questions about when white house officials first learned of the allegations. according to one white house official, chief of staff john kelly was made aware of some of the allegations of domestic abuse months earlier. kelly defended porter tuesday calling him a man of true integrity and overnight saying in a statement overnight "there is no place for domestic violence in our society." one official says he could be out as early as today. and senate leaders reached a broad long-term spending bill just one day before the government shutdown. adding millions to military and domestic spending over the next two hours. just about 24 hours ago, president trump threatened a shutdown if he didn't get his way. president trump says we must is support our troops and support this bill. >> thank you. >>> vice president pence is at the winter olympics and saying the u.s. stands firmly wi

porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby, said she spoke to the fbi. >> i told them the details of my marriage, including verbal and emotional abuse and including an incident when he pulled me out of the shower. they were made aware of the protective order i signed in june of 2010. they were made aware of another time when i had called the police to our home after a domestic disturbance. >> the white house repeated porter's denials. said he was not denied a security clearance. >> his background investigation was ongoing. he was operating on an interim security clearance. his clearance was never denied and he resigned. >> colbie holderness told fox news she had warned the fbi porter could be susceptible to blackmail because of his history. the fact that he was betting most of the documents that landed on the president's desk without a full security clearance raised eyebrows on capitol hill. >> operating a year without a security clearance, i didn't understand that and i still don't. what general kelly knew and when he knew it. >> the white house won't say when chief of staff callie fir

. >> this is jennifer willoughby, one of the ex-wives, speaking to the "washington post." >> i'm notple who work with him in a professional capacity see him as a model of discretion, integrity and character, because like i mentioned, i believe that he is. and i think professionally he is intelligent, and he is measured, and he is certainly someone that i would trust in that professional position. and in his personal life, he is also abusive and angry. >> what remarkable grace for her to say such complimentary things about someone who beats her. to that point the white house said, he deceived us. it's their job. they're supposed to have good people who can vet, and if the fbi came to us last year and said, he's not getting a clearance because of this. why was he still there yesterday? >> and to her point, it sort of speaks to how rob porter worked his way through the white house. he was gracious in this town, he worked with a number of institutions. reince priebus came to him, they knew each other from political days. what reince didn't know was he knew jerry -- jared from their schoo

let me read you a statement from jennifer willoughby. responded, ultimately this is not a political issue, this is a societal issue. the tone has just been reset by the white house. the most powerful people in the nation do not believe my story of abuse in the face of overwhelming evidence, then what hope do others have of being heard? your reaction to heard broader statement here, the effect of this in this country. >> i read it and i have to say it was pretty powerful and she's absolutely right. this is sending the wrong message. domestic violence is a serious problem in this country. i think the statistics say 20 people per minute are suffering physical abuse from their intimate partners. here's an opportunity to talk about a societal issue which is huge and what kind of a signal is this sending to women who are suffering at the hands of domestic abuse and sexual harassment. it reminds me of the letter that was sent out by 200 women in the national security space saying that they were suffering instances within their own agencies of s

porter's statement did not appear to specifically address allegations made by his second wife jennifer willoughby 2010, she filed for a protective order claiming porter was violating a separation agreement by his continued presence at her house. her handwritten request under oath reading in part "when he returned a few minutes later he punched in the glass door. i called the police afraid he would break in." the emergency protective order was granted saying reasonable grounds exist to believe that respondent has committed family abuse and there is probable danger of a further such offense. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news that porter was never given full security clearance though it's unclear why. a former white house official says the chief of staff john kelly was aware of the allegations of abuse against rob porter before the story broke yesterday. kelly was according to multiple outlets against porter resigning in the face of these allegations becoming public and released a fascinating statement reading in part rob porter is a man of true integrity and honor and i can't say e

. >> reporter: porter's second wife jennifer willoughby slamming president trump's trump writing that the president's words were, quote, meant to imply that i am a liar. willoughby adding, despite mr. trump's dismissal, i want to ensure you that my truth has not been diminished. axios is reporting that some strongly encouraged him to stay and fight rather than resign. porter maintaining that he never misrepresented anything to kelly, as the white house continues to insist they were misl misled. >> he wasn't entirely forth coming, and i think the photos took everybody by surprise. >> reporter: a messy trail of conflicting statements. we are seeing the outcry stretch into a new week here on the day that the president is expected to unveil his $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. >> right. we thank you very much. money. price tag is big. all right. so let's bring in the big shots. cnn political analysts david drucker and karoun dep. this is not the way the president put it in his tweet. it is not about stepping out on your spouse or workplace conduct. this is about violence and abuse. you

porter's second ex-wife, jennifer willoughby, told "the daily mail" that porter dragged her wet and naked out of the shower to yell at her, a story she has repeated on video to the "washington post" in a video they have posted. >> during one of these fights, we were both yelling at each other. i disengaged and removed myself from the fight to take a shower. and rob wasn't finished fighting, i suppose, at that point. he was still angry. so he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. immediately on seeing the terror in my face, retracted and apologized and changed composure immediately. but that was -- that was the first time that he had laid hands on me. that is the first time that anger had gone beyond the words and the insults. >> willoughby has also confirmed her account, that account, with us at nbc news. further, nbc news has obtained a 2010 protective order in which willoughby told police that porter ignored multiple requests to leave her home during their separation, that at one point he punched through a pane of glass in the door. willoug

. >> what you see is also what the white house is acknowledging and what we heard jennifer willoughby say to you is he's an extremely effective manipulatom. people who are in these positions are able to carry one face to the world and then have a really sort of secretive, dark side of their personality that nobody else sees. keep that sort of bottled in. the victims, even though she doesn't call herself a victim and they think they are crazy because he's a harvard trained lawyer. he uses rhetoric and language incredibly effectively against these women and probably against his superiors and the other people he's worked for including senator hatch. you sense there's a high level of frustration at the white house because they went to him and probably asked him and he probably minimized this in a way that was believable in enough key moments that the responsibility lies on them. you have to understand that you're dealing with somebody who has deep psychological problems and will do anything they can to avoid being held responsible. >> the white house said they could have handled things be

and jennifer willoughby who married him in 2009 said she endured deep emotional abuse from her ex-husband and in some instances, things got physical. in 2010 she said he punked a glass surface on their front door and eventually the police came and encouraged her to take out a protective order against him. cnn has obtained and reviewed a copy of that order. then in december of 2010, she said she and port her a fight. she went to take a shower and she tells me that he grabbed her from the shower and made her feel very frightened. >> these are very, very troubling allegations. tell us why it is so significant that this was rob porter, someone so close to the president. >> right. well, i think there are two things worth keeping in mind as we learn more about the story. one, porter was a top aide inside the white house who had consistent contact with president trump himself. two, we are told by several sources that porter has been dating white house communications director hope hicks. now, she is, as you know, one of the most influential aides in the west wing and now we are also learning from

before we end here, i want to say colby holderness and jennifer willoughby are the two women who have shown remarkable strength and courage to come forward to talk to the fbi to go public with their stories. i just don't want to lose sight of them as individuals as people in an schmidtst this maelstrom. we're talking about there now because they took the risk of coming forward. donna edwards, michelle goldberg, thank you for joining us. >> more breaking news. the white house issues a letter saying they will not release the response to the democratic memo. plus raiched brand's sudden resignation at the department of justice. what it means for mueller probe in two minutes. hi, i'm the internet! you know what's difficult? armless bowling. ahhhhhhhh! you know what's easy? building your website with godaddy. get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. build a better website in under an hour. >>> the number three official at the justice department is out. leaving her post according to a report in the "new york times" which has been confirmed by nbc news in a move that could hav

both holderness and porter's other ex-wife jennifer willoughby have accused him of physical and emotionaluring their marriages. at first there was support for porter. >> he says his innocent and i think you have to remember that. >> and there was this trump tweet from over the weekend. "people's lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation," but the president has not spoken out publicly or acknowledged porter's accusers. >> reporter: are they tone deaf? is there just a being on the wrong side of things? >> supporting due process for any allegation is not tone deaf. i think it is allowing things to be investigated and a mere allegation not be the determining factor. >> all of this may distract from the white house agenda, but democrats say controversy will be used to win over women voters in the mid-term elections this fall. >>> the senate has begun the debate on immigration including possible protections for dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought here as children. tonight's vote was 97-1, but there's plenty of division. democrats are unwilling to go along with president

. >> do you believe jennifer willoughby? >> my heart goes out to any victim of domestic violence. it's unacceptable and inexcusable. rob porter is denying them. it's a dispute better handled for a court of law. my heart goes out to any victim and we stand with victims, my party does. john kelly within 40 minutes of finding out the full panoply of facts before him accepted the resignation of rob porter and the white house was unmistakable in that they were standing with women and letting the facts play out. they're not an investigatory body, that's better handled in a court of law, but they accepted rob porter's resignation. >> the president reportedly was unaware of how serious the situation was until he saw a picture of the black eye that rob porter allegedly gave his first ex-wife. colbie holderness. what is the bar for women coming forward with allegations of physical abuse, does physical proof have to exist? >> the president didn't know about the situation at all. nor did john kelly. john kelly said in the fall that he was told there might be a problem with rob porter's securi

. >> reporter: porter's second wife jennifer willoughby slamming mr. trump's response writing that the president's words were meant to imply that i am a liar. willoughby adding, despite mr. trump's dismissal, i want to ensure you that my truth has not been diminished. axios is reporting that some senior white house officials strongly encouraged him to stay and fight rather than resign. porter maintaining he never reported anything. >> he wasn't entirely forth coming. the photographs took everybody by surprise. >> reporter: so as you can see, erica and chris, a messy trail of conflicting statements coming out of the white house as the outcry over this is stretching into a new week on the day that the president is expected to unveil his $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. >> kaitlan, thank you very much. joining us now is david gregory and associate editor of real clear politics, a.b. stoddard. david, people will say, boy, you guys can't move off of this. how can we when we don't know what the story is? we haven't gotten a straight line. kellyanne conway

. >> i think what you see here is also what the white house is acknowledging, what we heard jennifer willoughby say to you, he's an extremely effective manipulator. so he was able to -- and people who are often in these positions are able to carry one face to the world, and then have a really secretive, dark side of their personality that nobody else sees. and keep that sort of bottled in. so that the victims, even though show doesn't call herself a victim, experience this and think intensive -- he's a harvard-trained lawyer, he uses rhetoric and language incredibly effectively against these women, sadly, and probably against his superiors, and against the other people that he's worked for, including senator hatch, john kelley. so you sense that there is a high level of frustration at the white house because they went to him and probably asked him, and he probably minimized this in a way that was believable in enough key moments that of course the responsibility lies on them, but you have to understand that you're dealing with somebody who has deep psychological problems and is going to do anyt

porter's second ex-wife jennifer willoughby told "the daily mail" porter dragged her wet and naked outf the shower and was verbally abusive. nbc news has obtained a 2015 protective order where willoughby told police porter ignored her multiple requests to leave her home and at one point punched in the glass on the door. i called the police afraid that he was break in. a former white house official says chief of staff john kelly was aware of the allegations of abuse before the story broke. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news it is believed porter was never given full security clearance, although it's not clear why. the administration now is defense. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made and one that he was not pressured to do, but one that he made on his own. >> the white house is not commenting on porter's security clearance. one other layer to this, porter is reportedly dating communications director hope hicks who plays a role in all public statements from the white house, including those that were sent out last night in porter's defense. >> thanks to k

porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby, also alleged an abusive relationship in fbi interviews. even as he tendered his resignation wednesday, rob porter denied the charges in a statement readad by white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders. >> these outrageous allegations are false. i took thehe photos to thehe mea yearly 15 years ago. the realality is nowhere clear o what is in described. i haveve been transparent but ii will not engage probably with a corrugated smear campaign. amy: white house chief of staff general john kelly initially defended porter as a "man of true integrity and honor" before issuing an after-hours statement claiming he was shocked by the domestic violence claims. that is despite multiple reports that general kelly and other senior white house staff have known for weeks or even months that fbi denied porter. your declarant over the allegations. -- porter full security clearance over the allegations. in syria, u.s. warplanes have carried out strikes on syrian pro-government forces in deir al-zour, over what the pentagon says was retaliation for a

>> i'm glad you bring that up because just out tonight we have this from jennifer willoughby, the ex-wiferob porter. she writes on time.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. my friend turned to me and said, the president of the united states just called you a liar. ultimately this is not a political issue. it is a societal issue and the tone has just been reset by the white house. if the most powerful people in the nation do not believe my story of abuse in the face of overwhelming evidence, then what hope do others have of being heard? >> that's where i was going with this. the president, once again, he's just getting it wrong. and it's sending a message to young men, to young women that this is just not something we take serious. i think general kelly needs to go. he's needed to go since he attacked fredrik rick a wilson and he called

and i spoke with jennifer willoughby yesterday prior to her interview today on "today" with savannah. and she told me what she told the fbi, which is that she did relay these stories of abuse including one in which she says she was dragged out of the shower naked aggressively by her ex-husband, rob porter, and then in another instant she had to get a protective order against him during their separation. and he according to willoughby broke a glass, she was terrified, she called plirks she wasn't sure what he was going to do next. so these are the types of stories she said she told the fbi during that background check and the interview that she conducted with them. i also asked her if the fbi pressed her on whether or not he could be subject to blackmail. she shenandoah says she answere question saying maybe. and i spoke to colby hole die s holderness, his first wife, she said there were a number of women abused by him. so it is our sense that that information was relayed to the white house. and according to one source familiar with the conversations, chief of staff john kelly was brie

now, jennifer willoughby, the second ex-wife on television talking more about this publicly. here is what she said to say about the interactions she's had with rob porter since their marriage ended. >> another thing that he wanted me to say was that i had taken some liberties with this their pewter post, which it was for me,i had taken liberties with that their pewter post. i didn't. he was asking me to down play it. he was asking me to emphasize more the relationship that he and i have now as opposed to what i experienced in our marriage. >> so willoughby says her interactions with porter continued up until even this week when all of this was exploding out into the public sphere. she also expressed some concern for hope hicks, again, the white house communications director who is in a romantic relationship with rob porter. erica? >> abby phillip at the white house, thank you. >>> joining me to discuss cnn political analyst alex burns and josh dawsey and cnn contributor salena zito. i want to tick through a list of some of the things that have happened since the last governme

jennifer willoughby's story is about what she went through with rob porter were heartbreaking and people were saying this is not the man i know. but we know the dr. jek keckyll mr. hyde does exist. yes, we need proof, but we have to recognize that there is not proof either about sfwlp domestic violen. >> domestic violence goes on behind doored. most are not out battering their neighbors or co-workers. it is insidious inside the home. so there are many pillars of the community who are batters and you would never know. just as mr. porter apparently a great worker, but -- >> even his wife said he is great at his job. >> right. and so there is that you never know. you never know. you know, you could be sitting next to somebody on the train who is a batterer. >> but do you think that we're giving more credence to what women say, are we entering a new era here? >> i believe we are. and i certainly hope we are and i hope it continues. we need to tell women that we believe them, that we believe them on every level that when they are telling stories of abuse, that we are there and we're going to

jennifer willoughby, porter's second ex-wife, said hatch explained he thoughts article was part of aainst porter. >>> president trump has his hands full of russia indictments, a potential guilty plea from a campaign aide and tragic school shooting in florida. so naturally he's talking about oprah. this is what he wrote overnight. just watched a very insecure oprah winfrey who at one point i knew very well interview a panel of people on 60 minutes. the questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect, hope oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others. winfrey was holding a televised round table of 14 voters, half whom voted for president trump. it covered politics and policy and the president himself. i'm joined by host of reliable sources brian stelter. any reaction from the winfrey campaign. >> no, not yet. her friends, her business associates are still urging her to run. and last week a few of her confidants said she's not ruling it out altogether. she's saying she's not running like lots of other perspective candidates, she says she's not running

in the case of jennifer willoughby who filed for a protective order against him, porter said he was pemerelye glass door, his knuckle went through the glass but she told him to leave and called the police. hours after hearing porter's account, sarah sanders announced his resignation while also defending him. >> the president and chief of staff have had full confidence and trust in his abilities and performance. >> reporter: willoughby fired back at president trump for appearing to take the side of her ex-husband over her word. >>> president trump is urging congress to pass what he calls the biggest and boldest infrastructure investment in american history. mr. trump made his case today during a meeting with a group of lcal and state officials, including governors, state legislators and mayors. >> the framework will generate an unprecedented $1.5 to $1$1 trillion investment in american infrastructure. we'll have a lot of public-private and that way it gets done on time, on budget. >> president trump's plan envisions using $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state dollars to fi

so here is jennifer willoughby, his second ex-wife talking to anderson cooper last night.isten to this. >> he is now in a relationship with white house press secretary hope hicks. do you think he's changed? >> i don't think he's changed. >> does that worry you? >> it worries me for a lot of reasons. i mean, it definitely worries me because if i'm being frank with you, if he hasn't already been abusive with hope, he will. and particularly now that he is already a lot of stress and scrutiny. that's when the behaviors come out. and if he hasn't already, he will. >> that's chilling, alice. she is taking to warning on national tv hope hicks the director of communications for the white house who is in a romantic relationship with him. >> sure. and the fact that no one at the white house is saying, hope, run fast the other direction. >> we don't know what they're saying inside the white house. we just don't know. because, by the way, they are not being transparent about this. >> sure. and i think to simone's point, who in the white house should have told john kelly domestic viole

rob has denied the abuse, but jennifer willoughby and i know differe different. >> making it about the broader reality of domestic violence and the cycle of violence and who it ends up affecting. maybe some people who are, quote, unquote, weak to follow on the term kellyanne used when she described hope as strong. it's not just that. we all, unfortunately know of people who in their public lives, personas are feminists, strong independent women. meanwhile behind closed doors they have been in abusive relationships. it happens unfortunately, tragically way too much. in kellyanne's defense, what she said publicly about hope is what privately white house officials have been saying to me when i have said, isn't there any motivation here among the white house staff, those who really love and know hope. the president is certainly counted among those and has been for a long time, concerned about hope's well-being. in private they say she's strong, to which the conversation quickly turns to what i just said. so there's a defense. at the end of the day, it's not about that, it's about broader m

i remember your interview with jennifer willoughby last week. domestic abusers, there's no stereotype. they're not all in wife beater tank tops and looking like whatever, you know, central casting looks like. some of them are rhodes scholars. some of them went to harvard. some are mormon, some are catholic, some are atheist. there is no look, no type. we have got to learn that as society because we have got to be more supportive of the victims and be more -- be a lot tougher. >> her point was you can be good at your job and well liked didn't work and still be a terrible -- >> the process really let the president down here. the fact is rob porter fooled a lot of people for a long time, and the fact he was able to even get this close to the president, i think, is very problematic. >> but multiple people in the white house did know about this. i mean -- >> i just want to say somebody who worked in the white house for six months, people wear their credentials around their neck. you don't have to guess who is, you know, cleared to be in this wing or