SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
David Sorensen, a Trump administration staffer who resigned Friday, and his ex-wife Jessica Corbett, who has accused him of domestic violence. (Photo: Washington Post/Courtesy of Jessica Corbett)
Trump Slammed for 'Mere Allegation' Remark After Second Staffer Resigns Amid Reports of Domestic Violence
"He is interested in preserving male violence without accountability," one critics said of the president.
Feb 10, 2018
After a second staffer in the Trump administration stepped down following allegations of domestic violence, President Donald Trump--who provoked outrage Friday when he praised an alleged male abuser without mentioning the female victims--took to Twitter to question the right of survivors to speak out about their experiences:
The backlash was swift:
Trump's tweet came after David Sorensen, a White House speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, resigned in response to domestic violence allegations detailed in a Washington Post story published Friday.
The White House claimed to have learned about the allegations Thursday night, before being contacted by the newspaper. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations, and he resigned," said deputy press secretary Raj Shah.
Sorensen's ex-wife Jessica Corbett told the Post that during their marriage, he "ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall, and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life."
"Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
--Jessica Corbett, ex-wife of Trump staffer
The speechwriter said that he was "the victim of repeated physical violence during our marriage, not her," and that he is "considering legal options to address her defamation." (Corbett "acknowledged that she slapped Sorensen a number of times after he called her a vulgar term," but said the encounters "never escalated beyond" that.) Sorensen added that he resigned because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction."
Earlier this week, White House staff secretary Rob Porter left his position after a series of reports revealed photos and detailed allegations that he abused two ex-wives. Trump and his chief of staff, John Kelly, have come under fire for praising Porter in their statements to the press. Critics began calling on the chief of staff to step down after reports revealed that Kelly had supposedly been made aware of the ex-wives' allegations following their interviews with FBI agents for Porter's security clearance.
Although Sorensen's position did not require security clearance, he was required to undergo a background check. Corbett said she told the FBI details of her ex-husband's alleged abuse.
Before accepting a job in the Trump administration, Sorensen served as a top policy adviser to Maine's Republican governor, Paul LePage, as a spokesman for Maine House Republicans as well as the state party, and as a spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
"During their marriage, Corbett and Sorensen were a well-known couple in the small world of Maine Republican politics," the Post notes. Corbett also held numerous roles working for Republican politicians and the party.
"Sadly, I will pay a price for telling this story. To do so, I had to be willing to walk away from everything -- potential clients and job offers included -- in order to tell it," Corbett wrote on her blog about the Post's report. "Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
After a second staffer in the Trump administration stepped down following allegations of domestic violence, President Donald Trump--who provoked outrage Friday when he praised an alleged male abuser without mentioning the female victims--took to Twitter to question the right of survivors to speak out about their experiences:
The backlash was swift:
Trump's tweet came after David Sorensen, a White House speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, resigned in response to domestic violence allegations detailed in a Washington Post story published Friday.
The White House claimed to have learned about the allegations Thursday night, before being contacted by the newspaper. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations, and he resigned," said deputy press secretary Raj Shah.
Sorensen's ex-wife Jessica Corbett told the Post that during their marriage, he "ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall, and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life."
"Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
--Jessica Corbett, ex-wife of Trump staffer
The speechwriter said that he was "the victim of repeated physical violence during our marriage, not her," and that he is "considering legal options to address her defamation." (Corbett "acknowledged that she slapped Sorensen a number of times after he called her a vulgar term," but said the encounters "never escalated beyond" that.) Sorensen added that he resigned because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction."
Earlier this week, White House staff secretary Rob Porter left his position after a series of reports revealed photos and detailed allegations that he abused two ex-wives. Trump and his chief of staff, John Kelly, have come under fire for praising Porter in their statements to the press. Critics began calling on the chief of staff to step down after reports revealed that Kelly had supposedly been made aware of the ex-wives' allegations following their interviews with FBI agents for Porter's security clearance.
Although Sorensen's position did not require security clearance, he was required to undergo a background check. Corbett said she told the FBI details of her ex-husband's alleged abuse.
Before accepting a job in the Trump administration, Sorensen served as a top policy adviser to Maine's Republican governor, Paul LePage, as a spokesman for Maine House Republicans as well as the state party, and as a spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
"During their marriage, Corbett and Sorensen were a well-known couple in the small world of Maine Republican politics," the Post notes. Corbett also held numerous roles working for Republican politicians and the party.
"Sadly, I will pay a price for telling this story. To do so, I had to be willing to walk away from everything -- potential clients and job offers included -- in order to tell it," Corbett wrote on her blog about the Post's report. "Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
After a second staffer in the Trump administration stepped down following allegations of domestic violence, President Donald Trump--who provoked outrage Friday when he praised an alleged male abuser without mentioning the female victims--took to Twitter to question the right of survivors to speak out about their experiences:
The backlash was swift:
Trump's tweet came after David Sorensen, a White House speechwriter who worked under senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, resigned in response to domestic violence allegations detailed in a Washington Post story published Friday.
The White House claimed to have learned about the allegations Thursday night, before being contacted by the newspaper. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations, and he resigned," said deputy press secretary Raj Shah.
Sorensen's ex-wife Jessica Corbett told the Post that during their marriage, he "ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall, and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life."
"Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
--Jessica Corbett, ex-wife of Trump staffer
The speechwriter said that he was "the victim of repeated physical violence during our marriage, not her," and that he is "considering legal options to address her defamation." (Corbett "acknowledged that she slapped Sorensen a number of times after he called her a vulgar term," but said the encounters "never escalated beyond" that.) Sorensen added that he resigned because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction."
Earlier this week, White House staff secretary Rob Porter left his position after a series of reports revealed photos and detailed allegations that he abused two ex-wives. Trump and his chief of staff, John Kelly, have come under fire for praising Porter in their statements to the press. Critics began calling on the chief of staff to step down after reports revealed that Kelly had supposedly been made aware of the ex-wives' allegations following their interviews with FBI agents for Porter's security clearance.
Although Sorensen's position did not require security clearance, he was required to undergo a background check. Corbett said she told the FBI details of her ex-husband's alleged abuse.
Before accepting a job in the Trump administration, Sorensen served as a top policy adviser to Maine's Republican governor, Paul LePage, as a spokesman for Maine House Republicans as well as the state party, and as a spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
"During their marriage, Corbett and Sorensen were a well-known couple in the small world of Maine Republican politics," the Post notes. Corbett also held numerous roles working for Republican politicians and the party.
"Sadly, I will pay a price for telling this story. To do so, I had to be willing to walk away from everything -- potential clients and job offers included -- in order to tell it," Corbett wrote on her blog about the Post's report. "Women stay silent because there is so much to lose. In speaking up I hope to encourage other women who suffer in silence to come forward ."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.