Robert Roger Porter (born October 25, 1977) is an American lawyer and former political aide who served as

White House Staff Secretary The Staff Secretary ("Staff Sec") is a position in the White House Office responsible for managing paper flow to the President and circulating documents among senior staff for comment. It has been referred to as "the nerve center of the White ...

for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

from January 20, 2017, until February 7, 2018. He was previously Chief of Staff for

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. sena ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. Porter resigned his position as White House Staff Secretary after

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

allegations from both of his former wives came to public attention.

Early life

Porter grew up in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's p ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He is the son of Roger B. Porter, a former aide to President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...

and currently IBM Professor of Business and Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Porter's mother Ann Porter, who died in May 2017, was Faculty Dean of Harvard's

Dunster House Dunster House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. Built in 1930, it is one of the first two dormitories at Harvard University constructed under President Abbott Lawrence Lowell's House Plan and one of the sev ...

dormitory. After graduating from high school, Porter interned in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Education

He attended Harvard University, where he studied government and was president of the Harvard Republican Club. After his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. A ...

year at Harvard, he began a two-year stint as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. During the summer of his junior year, Porter completed an internship at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

and worked for the

Domestic Policy Council The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for the consideration of domestic policy matters and senior policymaking, Cabinet, and White House officials. The Council is part of the Office ...

. He graduated in 2002. Porter was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, studying

Political Theory Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, where his thesis research focused on

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

prior to graduation in 2005. Porter then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, graduating in 2008 with his Juris Doctor.

Political career

Porter has worked for Senators

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...

and

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

. In March 2014, Porter began working for Senator

. Porter was initially appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and was promoted to Chief of Staff in June of that year. Porter left the role in January 2017, to become

Staff Secretary for

. Porter resigned from the position on February 7, 2018, following public allegations of spousal abuse from his two ex-wives. He was succeeded on an acting basis by

Derek Lyons Derek S. Lyons is an American attorney and former White House Staff Secretary and Counselor to the President in the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Education Lyons was a student of Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, from wh ...

. Porter and two other former Trump aides criticized

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingto ...

's book '' Fear: Trump in the White House'' in September 2018, with Porter defending the president and saying the book was "selective and often misleading" in describing the administration. The ''Wall Street Journal'' published a pro-Trump opinion article by Porter in March 2019, drawing criticism from his second ex-wife who said Porter must address his personal conduct during marriage before returning to public life. The

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, ...

subpoenaed Porter in August 2019 to testify regarding Trump's actions in response to the

Russia investigation The Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump and hi ...

, and the White House directed Porter not to testify in September 2019.

Personal life

In 2003, Porter married Colbie Holderness; they divorced in 2008 and she said he had physically abused her multiple times throughout their marriage. In 2009, he married Jennifer Willoughby. After repeated verbal abuse, she obtained a restraining order against him in 2010. They divorced in 2013. Porter had been dating former White House Director of Communications

Hope Hicks Hope Charlotte Hicks (born October 21, 1988) is an American public relations executive and political advisor who served in President Donald Trump’s administration from 2017 to 2018 and 2020 to 2021. She served as White House Director of Strat ...

, though their relationship ended by December 2018. He is a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

. He was raised a member of the church and served a full-time, 24-month mission. He became less active in his church around the time of his second divorce.

Domestic abuse allegations

In late November 2017, a girlfriend of Porter's alerted her friend, White House Counsel

Don McGahn Donald Francis McGahn II (; born June 16, 1968) is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Donald Trump, from the day of Trump's inauguration through October 17, 2018, when McGahn resigned. Previously, McGahn serv ...

, regarding Porter's "anger problems". Porter's ex-wife Willoughby had sought and received a three-day emergency protective order against him in June 2010. Photographs of Holderness with a black eye and her detailed accounts of Porter's alleged abuse were also made public. Despite their testimonies and evidence presented, Porter denied his ex-wives' allegations and resigned from his staff secretary post after they became public. Willoughby stated "I don't want to be married to him. I would not recommend anyone to date him or marry him. But I definitely want him in the White House and the position he is in. I think his integrity and ability to do his job is impeccable." Porter resigned from the position of

on February 7, 2018, following public allegations of spousal abuse from his two ex-wives.Jonathan Swan
White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigns amid abuse allegations
. ''Axios''. The allegations were supported by photographs of a black eye (which Porter claimed he took) and a restraining order. Porter has said the allegations are false and are part of a "coordinated smear campaign". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' reported that White House counsel Donald McGahn had known since January 2017 about the allegations Porter's ex-wives made to the FBI, and that Chief of Staff

John F. Kelly John Francis Kelly (born May 11, 1950) is an American former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps general who served as White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from July 31, 2017, to January 2, 2019. He had previously ...

had known about the allegations since October 2017, still promoting Porter after. ''Post'' reporter Aaron Blake wrote that this development made the allegations a "full-blown scandal". Asked by reporters two days after Porter's resignation, President Donald Trump commented, "He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent so you have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was at the White House." In mid-February 2018, it was reported that Senator Hatch had sent letters to Porter's former wives, apologizing for initially defending Porter in response to their accusations against him. Kelly told reporters on March 2, 2018, that he sought Porter's resignation immediately after learning of the accusations on February 6 and regretted his handling of Porter's departure; he also said that contrary to earlier White House statements, Porter's background check had been completed by the FBI, as had been disputed publicly by bureau director, Christopher Wray.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Rob Living people Trump administration personnel Massachusetts Republicans Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Alumni of New College, Oxford Harvard Law School alumni People from Belmont, Massachusetts People from Washington, D.C. People from Boston American Rhodes Scholars 21st-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in England White House Staff Secretaries 1977 births Harvard College alumni