Portman’s vetting of staffer didn’t turn up complaints of wife abuse

Rob Porter worked on Ohio Republican’s senate staff for nine months.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said today he was “shocked to learn” of allegations of wife abuse by Rob Porter, a onetime Portman staffer who resigned his post at the White House last week.

Portman said he and his staff conducted the “standard interviews” with Porter and “there was never any” indication he had abused his wives.

One of Porter’s former wives, Jennifer Willoughby, filed a protective order against Porter in 2010, which was three years before he joined Portman’s staff.

Porter worked for Portman for nine months from June of 2013 to March of 2014 before taking a job as chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Porter then worked as staff secretary in the White House before leaving after his two former wives accused him of physical abuse.

In a conference call with Ohio reporters, Portman said the “allegations are deeply troubling. Any kind of abuse is abhorrent and unacceptable. No one should have to endure that kind of abuse which has been alleged,” Portman said.

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