Robert Roger Porter (born October 25, 1977) is an American lawyer and former political aide who served as White House Staff Secretary 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

from January 20, 2017, until February 7, 2018. He was previously

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for U.S. Senator

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. senat ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Porter resigned his position as White House Staff Secretary after

domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

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

Early life

Porter was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and grew up in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, who was

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Professor of Business and Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Porter's mother Ann Porter, who died in May 2017, was Faculty Dean of Harvard's Dunster House dormitory. After graduating from high school, Porter interned in the U.S. Senate.

Education

He attended Harvard University, where he studied government and was president of the Harvard Republican Club and chair of Harvard Students for Bush. He graduated in 2002 with membership in

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. After his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially 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 in ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

and worked for the Domestic Policy Council. He graduated in 2002. Porter was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

, studying

Political Theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

, where his thesis research focused on

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

prior to graduation in 2005. Porter then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, graduating in 2008 with his Juris Doctor.

Political career

Porter clerked for the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

. Porter has worked for Senators

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Portman was the 35th director of the Office of Management ...

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. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...

. 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. 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 honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

'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, f ...

subpoenaed Porter in August 2019 to testify regarding Trump's actions in response to the Russia investigation, 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 White House Director of Communications Hope Hicks at the time of his resignation in 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 restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

. 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, 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 White House Staff Secretary 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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reported that White House counsel Don 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 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 First 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