or other staff became aware of the allegations but colbie holderness told fox news she spoke to the fbi voted on january 25, 2017, more than a year ago. as part of a security clearance investigation, she told the fbi about several incidents of abuse, including vacation in florence, italy, where she says porter punched her in the eye. 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 first wife, colby holderness tells john roberts this picture was taken during a trip to italy in 2005. she says her husband at the time, porter, punched her in the face during an argument in their hotel room. it's that picture, that picture that has apparently changed things at the white house. they have known about this for months. but the picture made a difference. 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

. >> reporter: colbie holderness, seen here on her wedding day, told the online publication "the intercept," "he would lay on top of me, shaking me or rubbing an elbow or a knee into me. he graduated to choking me, not ever hard enough to make me pass out or, frankly, to leave marks, but it was frightening and dehumanizing." she also tells abc news that in late 2016, she was contacted by another woman who shared her own story of what she called "repeated abuse" at porter's hands. the woman telling her, "he can go from being the sweetest, kindest person to a complete abusive monster in minutes. it is unbelievably hard to watch him continue to rise and ascend in politics while everyone around me thinks he's just this wonderful guy." abc news has not spoken with her. porter denies abusing his ex-wives, saying, "these outrageous allegations are simply false. i took the photos and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described." >> mr. president, any comment on

colby holderness is her name. have you heard about the op-ed she wrote for this morning's "washington post"? she talks of abuse and survival and the strength it takes to come forward. details of that ahead. police, the israeli prime minute administer breaking in the last hour, could soon be the subject of a corruption case. and it is recommended now that he be indicted. the news is breaking. we'll have the latest on it coming up from the fox news deck on this tuesday afternoon. flub flub first, we head to vermont. and go to our coffee shop. and meet dave. hey. why is dark magic so spell-bindingly good, he asks? let me show you. let's go. so we climb. hike. see a bear. woah. reach the top. dave says dark magic is a bold blend of coffee with rich flavors of uganda, sumatra, colombia and other parts of south america. like these mountains, each amazing on their own. but together? magical. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters packed with goodness. . >> i'm lea gabrielle with the fox

i talked with colby holderness. she said she spoke with the fbi on january 25, 2017. that would be a little more than a year ago. this was an interview in regard to rob porter's security clearance. he never received his full clearance. he received and interim clearance. these photos on the screen turned the tide of this story. she says that she told the fbi her story providing them with these photos and his second wife, jennifer willoughby talked to the fbi and shared her story. that file at some point last year should have come over here to the white house counsel's office if they were following the protocols in place during the bush administration, and if there were any items in that file that were concerning, they would have been paper clipped and brought to the attention of somebody in the white house counsel's office who was in charge of clearances. that file also could have gone to the chief of staff as well. despite colby holderness's assurances to fox news that that's what happened and she got a black eye at the hands of report porter, the white house was deny

. >> you met colby holderness who is rob porter's first wife. she has come forward publicly and is actually also put out an image that shows her with a black eye she says rob porter gave they are that black eye. do you believe her? >> of course i do. of course i do. >> you think he's capable of that? >> i believe her. >> you talked to jen willow by. tell us about that conversation and your take on this covering the white house. >> well, you're absolutely right. jen willoughby made it very clear she'd made her concerns very clear to the fbi and that i asked her if she was pressed on whether she thought he could be subject to blackmail and her response to that was effectively if anyone was going to blackmail rob porter it would be one of these women who he had been in a relationship with and her final answer was maybe. i spoke to colbie holderness, his first ex-wife, who said she was more affirmative in her answer to that question. that she felt he could be subject to blackmail. she has been very open about th this. she made it very clear that the

his first wife, colbie holderness, sharing this photo, showing her black and blue eye, saying porter punched her in the face more than a decade ago. both women tell abc news they told the fbi about porter's alleged abuse during his white house security clearance background check in early 2017. his second wife, jennie willoughby, telling "the washington post" she did not hold back. >> i told them all of the details of my marriage, including verbal and emotional abuse. >> reporter: when the story first broke, white house aides praised porter, one of the president's top aides, who is also romantically linked to white house communications director hope hicks. >> the president and chief of staff have had full confidence and trust in his abilities and performance. >> reporter: white house chief of staff john kelly called porter a man of true integrity and honor. but last night, with that picture of porter's first wife out in public view, kelly issued a second statement, saying that he was "shocked by the new allegations" and that there is no place for domestic violence. but kelly adding, "

that's why he punched colby holderness and gave her that black eye, because she wasn't strong enough. that's the trump white house position on why no one has to worry about hope hicks because she's stronger than the women rob porter victimized. here's colby holderness's answer to kellyanne conway and the trump white house, the people who believed she just wasn't strong enough and that's why rob porter punched her, she wrote being strong with excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts does not inoculate a person against abuse. it doesn't prevent her from entering a into a relationship with an abuser. abuse often doesn't manifest itself early on, only later when you're in deep and behind closed doors. the really ugly side of rob's abuse only came out after we married, following three years of dating. hope hicks has always gotten very special treatment from donald trump and the trump family and from the trump campaign press and from the trump white house press corp. watch this very unusual moment in the white house press briefing room in the first week of the trump presidency with hope h

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 nothing about it. did nothing. and now remember, john kelly

colby holderness, his first ex-wife, spoke with the fbi on january 25 of last year. more than a year ago. jenny willoughby, his second wife spoke to the fbi. fbi has known that there was material out there that could have been used as potential blackmail about porter. i'm told by people that worked in previous administrations that at some point a long time ago, probably talking end of february, beginning of march, somebody from the fbi should have come if this was operating as other white houses have to the white house to the counsel's office or maybe to the chief of staff and said, just want to let you know, there's things in this person's file that would prohibit that person from getting a permanent security clearance. might want to do something about that and in most administrations because that person wasn't going to get a security clearance, they would have been let go back then. but either that didn't happen, shep or it happened and people here aren't saying that it happened. shep? >> shepard: how is it possible that the person who reads everything that goes to

. >> i think you said it was the second wife with the black eye, but it was the first wife, colbie holderness. >> indeed. >> do we know about john kelly's standing with the president after all this? >> reporter: john kelly was in the room today with the president during that infrastructure roll out. the white house wanted to be talking about their infrastructure plan today. so john kelly was there front and center. we do believe that he is on somewhat better standing, but we know that the president is someone who is completely fine with being at odds with members of his own staff. we've seen it for months now, actually nearly a year with jeff sessions, the attorney general. so no question john kelly is in the hot seat, but there is no sense tonight that he is on the verge of being replaced at all. he is carrying on here. he's doing all the work that's being done, so the white house is standing behind him. the question here, though, is anderson, how many days will these questions linger? will the president have to answer these specific questions about those domestic violence. we of course have

porter's first wife colbie holderness also divorced him after

porter's first wife colbie holderness also divorced him after years of abuse, including physical violence. holderness has even released pictures of a black eye she says porter gave her. porter calls all of the allegations against him outrageous and simply false. he says the reality behind the pictures is, quote, nowhere close to what is being described, and says, quote, i have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims. holderness told her story to a british newspaper, and both women had previously told their story to the fbi, which was in the process of doing a background check on porter for security clearance. the fbi told senior officials at the white house, including john kelly. multiple sources telling us by last fall, it was widely known, and let me repeat that, widely known among top aides, kelly included, that rob porter was facing trouble getting cleared and his ex-wived had discussed spousal abuse. the white house account of what they knew and when they knew it has changed, to put it mildly. and still, the white house refuses to go into detail of exactly who knee what

porter's first wife, colbie holderness says she appreciates his apology. porter has denied the allegations. >>> a drug to help euthanize your pet ended up in dog food shipped nationwide. recall information and what to look for coming up next. - [narrator] introducing a breakthrough in hearing aid technology. presenting the all new eargo plus. the world's smallest, most comfortable rechargeable hearing aid designed with patented flexi fibers so they're suspended completely inside the ear canal and so small that they're virtually invisible. the kind of invisibility hearing aid wearers have been looking for if you could look for invisibility, that is. which, you can't. or, i guess you can, but you won't find it. well, because it's invisible. you know, any way, the point is most people probably won't even know you're wearing them, and they're so comfortable you might forget you're wearing them yourself. eargo plus is also rechargeable, so there's no need to replace batteries. because there's nothing more frustrating than those tiny hearing aid batteries, or th

people do not like it. >> mary katherine, we did hear from colbie holderness, the first wife of rob porter, the one in the photo with the black eye. let me read you the first statement. monday white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders declined to say whether he believes willoughby and me. while i cannot say that i'm surprised, i expected a woman to be better. >> i'm sorry she had to write that. she's been thrust into the national spotlight by the white house' failure to deal with this through the proper channels. they're suggesting maybe they don't believe her. the praising of her ex-husband was off the charts in the early going even though they had all this evidence saying we're better for having known him. here is the deal. someone like this, as with his wives and many other co-workers can trick a lot of people for a long time and look great in the workplace and be different behind closed doors. it can be a dr. jekyll and mr. hyde situation. once you know mr. hyde exists, stop praising dr. jekyll. the white house totally unable to do that. >> at this point now that we have this

colbie holderness, you see her there with a black eye.he said she got it on vacation with her ex-husband rob porter in italy. they had an argument and he punched her in the eye. she said she got porter to take this picture of herself right after that hit, she says because she wanted to have evidence that ever happened again. then she took these photographs herself of the bruise. today, the president's reaction was that of surprise. >> we could have done better over the last few days in dealing with this situation but this is a rob porter the diet many others have dealt with. sarah dealt with, many other officials including the chief of staff. emerging reports were not reflective of the individual we had come come to know. >> in the white house became aware of this is a question because colbie holderness told me that on january 25, 2017, more than a year ago, she sat down with agents from the fbi who are conducting a background check of porter in which she laid out to these fbi agents numerous episodes of what she called verbal, emotional,

colbie holderness took to "the washington post." rob porter is my ex-husband.e, living in constant fear of anger and subjected to his degrading tirades for years. chipped away at any independence and self worth. i walked away a shell of a person i was when i went into it. it took me a long time to realize the toll his behavior was taking on me. that contrasts dramatically what with the president said about domestic violence. he tweeted peoples lives are shattered and destroyed by mere allegations. he, of course, is talking about the accused. not the abused. in your estimate, why can't the president acknowledge the victims of domestic violence on twitter or in person and why can't the white house come clean on this and move on? >> that is a good question. we have seen the situation arise so many times before. i think certainly most recently when it is going outside of his white house having to do with roy moore and roy moore's acc e accus accusers. the senate candidate in alabama, of course. the stream of credible allegations that came forward from people that d

but it is, and again, to reiterate, interesting to point out, that colby holderness told this story tohe fbi on january the 25, 2017, more than a year ago. and nothing surfaced out of the white house on this. now, the fbi does these background checks for security clearance, and i don't believe that they are inclined to share the findings of the information with the white house. they either recommend approval of the security clearance or not. our understanding is that porter had an interim security clearance, but never got permanent clearance. it is unclear at this point when people here at the white house learned about this information, but it has been in the hands of law enforcement since january 25th of last year. >> harris: he does have supporters, orrin hatch has supported him today, saying if this is true, he should get help so he can segue back into politics. john roberts, great to see you today. thank you for breaking this down for us. >>> the clock is ticking whether the president will okay the release of the democratic memo that allegedly counters gop claims of obama era surve

colby holderness told the fbi she thought rob porter was vulnerable to blackmail because of these allegations. they were allegations made more than a year ago. they were found to be credible and presented to the white house chief of staff and counsel. nothing happened. >> i don't know that to be true. i'm not a good source for you on that. i personally don't know who received that information and when. i would not as counselor to the president -- i'm not chief of staff or white house counsel -- i would not be made privy to that. good because that would -- that's about somebody else's investigative process. that should not be shared broadly. let me repeat, i'm well aware in having read those articles many times what these women said to the fbi, i'm aware of the contemporaneous police reports. i'm very aware of the pictures. that is one back drop. the other is you have to ask the individuals who were in the direct line what they knew. i i i ily -- i will tell you something else. it's actually good that the rest of us don't know things like that. this information affects all of the people involv

soon after that, a photograph of one of the ex-wives, colbie holderness, with a black eye. 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, s

here is what colbie holderness is saying in the op-ed.y, sarah huckabee sanders again declined to say whether the president believes jennifer will lou by and me. i expected a woman to do better, while i can say i'm not surprised. in the white house, what should the president's advisers like kellyanne and sarah sanders be saying to them? >> well, the first piece of advice is the very first statement out of this white house should be support and sympathy for the victims. that should have been the very first thing. and the fact that the victims are still talking about how this white house has failed to come to their support in any fashion, any kind of statement of support, still seven days later just testifies to a much greater problem in the white house which is a tendency and reflex to defend the perpetrators and not the victims. >> okay. anita dunn, mark mckinnen, thank you very much for sharing your expertise from inside the white house with us. >> thank you. >> chris? >> now beneath this major cloud over the white house, there's some si

wives and a former girlfriend of being violent toward them, including giving his first wife colby holdernesslack eye with one punch. trump has privately expressed frustration with the week-long fallout, peppering aides and confidantes with questions about the media coverage and how the controversy is playing for him personally. of course that's what he is worried about. how is this playing for him personally? also tonight, cnn is reporting trump has been phoning allies in recent days to get their advice on how to handle the fallout from rob porter. his two main questions, what do we do and when does it end? well, you could try this, mr. president. you could try telling the truth and firing anyone and everyone who lied about it that would end it. but we know that's not going to happen. not in the trump white house. so tomorrow's white house press briefing will surely include more lies about this story. and at this hour tomorrow night, we will be dissecting tomorrow's lies. and one of the big problems for the white house is that the fbi director christopher wray will be asked about all of this

. >> his first wife colbie holderness said he punched her in the face leaving this black eye. they shared their story with the fbi a year ago who found the claims credible. one fact preventing porter from getting fbi security clearance. no mention of that by president trump on friday. >> he also as you know says he's innocent. you have to remember that. he said very strongly that he's innocent. >> on saturday he doubled down with this tweet people's lives are being shattered and destroyed by the mere allegation. some are true and some are false. some are old and new. there is no recovery from someone falsely accused. is there no such thing as due process? trump has a history of dismissing claims of abuse and sexual misconduct against friends like bill o'reilly >> i know bill. bill is a good person. i don't think he would do anything wrong. friends like bill o'reilly >> allies the senator candidate roy >> he totally denies it. you have to listen to him also. >> and of course himself. >> every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. >> as you have seen, i'm a vict

porter's resignation was announced wednesday after photographs surfaced of 40er's ex-wife colbie holderness with a black eye. both she and his other former wife accused porter of emotional and physical abuse during their marriages. first there was support for porter. >> he's until proven guilty. i think we have to remember that. >> the president has not spoken out publicly or acknowledged porter's accusers. >> reporter: there's a tone deafness. is there just 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 being the determining factor. >> all of this in a distract from the white house agenda -- in a distract from the white house agenda -- may distract from the white house agenda, but democrats say the controversy will be used to win over women voters this fall in the midterms. >>> vanessa trump, wife of donald trump, jr., opened an envelope with a mysterious white powder inside. she was coughing and felt nauseated. it was addressed to her husband at the family's manhat

porter first appeared in the "daily mail" including this picture of porter's first ex-wive, colbie holderness, who told the paper he punched her giving her this black eye soon after their 2003 marriage. holderness also alleges porter choked her and emotionally abused her. porter firing back, "i took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described." 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. t

kelly only learned the whole truth yesterday after this picture surfaced of porter's first wife, colby holderness, with a black eye. >> i think it's fair to say that we all could have done better over the last few hours or the last few days. >> reporter: and pressed on why porter only had an interim security clearance despite the fact that he worked at the president's side with access to some of the most sensitive materials to cross the president's desk. >> the background investigation was not completelied. there was no determination made about rob porter's security clearance, there was not a thumbs up or thumbs down. >> reporter: tonight one 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 when they were conducting the background check. >> i shared the details of my marriage the same as have been in the interviews that came out. >> reporter: one of the questions was could he potentially be blackmailed. how did you answer that question? >> i believe that the people who had the power to

in a "washington post" op-ed colbie holderness, the ex-wife of former staff secretary rob porter, says she was living in constant fear and left the relationship a shell of the person i was when i went into it. holderness says she was dismayed when a white house adviser explained why she's not worried about porter's current girlfriend, white house communications director hope hicks. scrutiny for what he said during a speech to sheriffs around the country. while praising the elected officials at their winter meeting, he described the, quote, here anglo-american heritage of law enforcement, a phrase that some claim is racist while others say it is historically accurate. >> i want to thank every sheriff in america. since our founding the independently elected sheriff has been the people's protector who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people through the elective process. the office of sheriff is a critical part of the anglo-american heritage of law enforcement. >> that last part there got a lot of people upset on twitter. while experts say sessions' description is accurate

in a "washington post" op-ed colbie holderness, the ex-wife of former staff secretary rob porter says she was living in constant fear and left the relationship a shell of the person i was when i went into it. holderness says she was dismayed when a white house adviser explained why she's not worried about porter's current girlfriend. white house communications director hope hicks. >> i have no reason not to believe the women in the case of hope, i rarely met somebody so strong with such excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts. >> reporter: holderness fired back writing, her statement implies that those who have been in abusive relationships are not strong. recognizing and surviving in an abusive relationship takes stre. she's also calling outte house pressectary sarah sanders. >> dogs he believe rob porter's accusers or are they lying. >> the president and the entire administration take domestic violence seriously and believe all investigations need to be investigated thoroughly and certainly supporters the victims above all else and believes everybody should be treated fairly. >>

porter's first wife, colbie holderness, a photo of her black and blue eye, saying porter punched her in the face more than a decade ago. press secretary sarah sanders today reading a statement from porter. >> i will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign. >> reporter: porter writing, "these outrageous allegations are simply false. i took the photos and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described. i have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims." porter is romantically involved with white house communications director hope hicks. the pair spotted out on the town recently in this dailymail.com photo. and today the white house messaging, crystal clear. porter was a valued part of the team, and he was not forced out. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made and one that he was not pressured to do >> reporter: porter's first wife tells the intercept, "he would lay on top of me shaking me or rubbing an elbow or knee into me. he graduated to choking me not ever hard enough to make me pass out or frankly, to leave marks

porter misled them and they aktd swiftly after seeing these photos of porter's first ex-wife, colbie holderness. the first wife claims that the pictures and information came up as part of porter's background check in 2017. it was suggested that the tweet was not about the president's aide. >> the tweet could be applied to a bunch of people that wondered if the president was talking about his friend, steve wynn. >> reporter: wynn faces accusation of sexual misconduct by dozens of women. and new york senator kirsten gillibrand reminding the constituents so does the president. telling "60 minutes" -- >> congress should hold him accountable. we are obligated to have hearings. >> reporter: the president has fundamentally denied those allegations. >> those accusers have had their day on your network and elsewhere for a long time. >> reporter: well, publicly, the president continues to defend porter. privately, the website axios is reporting he's called porter sick and says that that image doesn't line up with the man he knew, but he believes the women. kendis? diane? >> thank you, serena marshall, li

porter first appeared in "the daily mail" including this picture of porter's first ex-wife, colby holderness, who told the paper porter punched her, giving her this black eye soon after their 2003 marriage. holderness also alleges porter choked her and emotionally abused her. porter firing back, "i took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described." 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 be

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. >> if iind more people li

a man of true honor and integrity but then the release of this image, porter's first ex-wife colbie holderness claiming he punched her a decade ago. overnight, a new statement from kelly expressing shock saying there's no place for domestic violence. i stand by my previous comments and believe every individual deserves the right to defend their reputation. porter resigned releasing his own statement, these outrageous allegations are simply false. i took the photos and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described. i have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims. it's unclear when trump knew about the allegations, but the white house says porter was not forced out. porter's second wife, jennie willoughby, told "the washington post" about an alleged attack after their first anniversary. >> he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of a shower in a rage and immediately i'm seeing the terror in my face retracted and apologized. >> reporter: in 2010 that second ex-wife got an emergency protective order against porter. he's called the allegatio

and we're hearing from rob porters first wife, colbie holderness.ng to sarah sanders, saying whether the president believes the accusers. one week later, the white house defending the president's failure who would not acknowledge the wife of one of his aides of domestic abuse. sarah sanders rebutting criticism that her bass hoss ha to say the message himself. >> he relayed it to me, and i relay it to you. >> reporter: his comments lying with porter, not his ex-wives. >> we wish him well. >> reporter: porter's first wife, colbie holderness, with an op-ed in "the post." she writes, i never could have imagined myself in the situation i am in now. we did not seek to tell our story. others sought us out. porter denies the allegations, so does david sorensen, who was ousted last week, after he reco recordedly abused his ex-wife. >> he put a cigarette out in my mind. made me drive around wondering where i would go, with no money, to beg people for cash. >> reporter: she only spoke up after an fbi agent approached her last fall. >> i was not trying to get h

the dailymail.com publio of porter's first wife colbie holderness who said porter gave her this blackand 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 still, mr. trump is now touting the agreement, tweeting republicans and democrats must support our troop

. >> reporter: porter's first wife, colby holderness, disputed his innocence in the "washington post"ating, "living in constant fear chipped away at my independence and sense of self-wor self-worth." i'm close to hope hicks, and i don't worry about her in that respect. >> reporter: she also responded to counselor kellyanne conway who on sunday was asked about communications director hope hicks' reported relationship with porter. >> i've rarely met somebody so strong with such excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts. >> reporter: holderness disputed conway's characterization writing, "those her statement imnobel peace prize those who have been in abusive relationships are not strong. i beg to differ." >> the president dismisses allegations -- >> reporter: arizona senator jeff flake -- >> the political fallout, i think, is significant. >> reporter: and questions remain about the timeline of porter's departure. >> there are things we could have done better. >> reporter: the white house claimed a photo of porter's first wife's bruised face forced his resignation. it took chief of staff

and we're hearing from rob porter's first wife, colby holderness. to sarah sanders, saying whether the president believes the accusers. writing i expected a woman to do better. one week later, the white house defending the president's failure to publicly acknowledge the women who accused one of his most trusted aides, rob porter, of domestic abuse. sarah sanders rebutting criticism that her boss has yet to say those words himself. >> i spoke to him. he relayed that message directly to me and i'm relaying it to you. >> reporter: the president's comments sympathizing with porter, not his exwives. >> we wish him well. >> reporter: porter's first wife, colbie holderness, with an op-ed in "the post." titled rob porter is my ex-husband, here's what you should know about abuse. she writes, i never could have imagined myself in the situation i am in now. no one could have. i'm not a partisan, i'm not an activist. jennifer wi jennifer willoughby did not seek this out, we did not seek to tell our story. others sought us out. porter denies the allegations, so

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 briefed on that several months ago. >> it is strikingly similar to what happened with mike flynn. why wasn't there is a sensitivity to somebody being in the white house who could be blackmailed? that word alone, you would imagine would have raised a massive red flag. maria, you were form early in a white house, deputy chief of staff, what do you think of this idea that the chief staff in this white house would not have known about these allegations, would not have known why the fbi hadn't 2k3wi67 him a full security clearance? >> well, first off, the facts are still coming out. but it certainly does seem to be that kelly knew months before these serious allegations. and that really brings to the point that as chief of staff, you would want to know when your staff secretary was going to get clearance. because that is