White House speechwriter David Sorensen resigned in February 2018 after his former wife Jessica Corbett told the Washington Post that he had been physically and emotionally abusive, which included driving over her foot and extinguishing a lit cigarette on her hand, among other things, during their 2 ½-year marriage.
Sorenson’s resignation came two days after White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned after his two former wives publicly accused him of being physically abusive to them during their respective marriages.
See Rob Porter,
Corbett, however, acknowledged that she slapped Sorensen a number of times after he called her a vulgar term.
Two of Corbett’s friends and associates told the newspaper that she told them her husband was abusive. In addition, Corbett said she had text messages and emails in which Sorensen criticized her with vulgar language and included comments about her failing marriage.
Corbett provided The Post a photo of her hand bearing a scar she said was from the cigarette burn.
Sorenson denied the abuse and repeated Corbett’s admission that she had physically abused him.
He provided photos of what he said were injuries that his ex-wife caused him, including bruises and scrapes.
Sorenson said he didn’t try to keep his job with the White House.
“I didn’t want the White House to have to deal with this distraction,” Sorensen said in a Facebook post. “It should be able to focus on continuing President Trump’s historic accomplishments for the American People.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/politics/david-sorensen-trump-abuse.html
Like Ms. Corbett, Mr. Porter’s ex-wives said they had informed the FBI about the abuse.
President Donald Trump, who has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, defended Sorensen and Porter.
He posted the following on social media:
“Peoples (sic) lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”
Corbett responded by criticizing Trump’s response: “I got no due process.”
Fox News reported it was not the first time Trump had denied charges of sexual abuse from political and staff allies. In November Trump defended Roy Moore, a candidate for U.S. Senate, who had been accused of sexual misconduct against teenagers.
“He totally denies it, he says it didn’t happen,” Trump said about Moore.
See Roy Moore,
Trump has denied dozens of all allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
In July 2023, a judge found Trump guilty of sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/
Sorensen filed a $4 million defamation suit against Corbett.
