Re-emergence of Trump Aide Accused of Abuse Is ‘Deeply Troubling,’ Ex-Wife Says

Annie Karni of The New York Times wrote:

WASHINGTON — The article was published without any great fanfare last week. “Trump’s Big Trade Opening” was the headline of the op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, which outlined how President Trump had created opportunities to advance free trade “more consequentially than his recent predecessors.”

More surprising than the content of a pro-Trump opinion column by a former administration official was the byline on it. The piece was written by Rob Porter, who resigned as the White House staff secretary in February 2018 amid domestic abuse accusations from both of his former wives. The Journal did not mention the circumstances that led to Mr. Porter’s departure.

Mr. Porter, who still lives in Washington and had been one of Mr. Trump’s most influential aides, has stayed out of the public eye since his resignation. Some saw his op-ed article as a first step toward re-entering the public arena after a year in the shadows.

But a response published on Thursday in The Washington Post by one of Mr. Porter’s former wives was the latest reminder that in the era of the #MeToo movement, a quiet comeback is complicated and a simple timeout, for many, is not viewed as enough.

“Rob’s sudden return to the public eye is deeply troubling to me,” wrote Jennifer Willoughby, who was married to Mr. Porter from 2009 to 2013, “because he has yet to candidly address the thing that should — that must — come first: his personal conduct during his two marriages.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/re-emergence-of-trump-aide-accused-of-abuse-is-deeply-troubling-ex-wife-says/ar-BBV4tx6