By: Kayla Pasacreta

Another day, another high-level White House departure. Brace yourselves, this story gets messy.

White House staff secretary Rob Porter is stepping down from his post following abuse allegations from two of his former wives. Porter, who before was widely unknown by the public, played an influential role in the White House and was at Trump's side daily.  

His ex-wives Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby are speaking out about his abuse that led to their divorces. CNN reports Holderness spoke to them about the abuse, 

“The physical abuse began almost immediately after their wedding. The couple went to the Canary Islands for their honeymoon in the summer of 2003, when Holderness said Porter kicked her thigh during a fight.”

— CNN

Holderness then details the abuse took a turn for the worst, as Porter took to choking her and pushing his limbs onto her body in anger.

Willhougby, Porter's second wife, also detailed the abuse and trauma that he put her through throughout their marriage. Willhougby says Porter abused her both verbally and physically.  Willhougby described a particularly gruesome incident to CNN, "I took a shower and Rob followed me fairly shortly after and grabbed me from the shower by my shoulders up close to my neck and pulled me out to continue to yell at me."

The details of Porter's abusive behavior leaves the question: who in the White House knew about his documented domestic violence? Porter enjoyed an elite role in the White House and served as a close confidant to Donald Trump. CNN has reported that high-level officials in the White House, like chief-of-staff John Kelly, knew about the abuse allegations for months and scrambled to protect him. 

“By early fall, it was widely known among Trump’s top aides — including chief of staff John Kelly — both that Porter was facing troubles in obtaining the clearance and that his ex-wives claimed he had abused them. No action was taken to remove him from the staff.”

— CNN

After news of Porter's actions broke, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and chief-of-staff John Kelly rushed to defend Porter's integrity, 

“I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him.”

— JOHN KELLY 

The White House statements in response to the allegations are now coming under fire after reports that White House communications director Hope Hicks, who is dating Porter, had a role in drafting the glowing statements.

The Porter certainly controversy leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and many Americans want to know who knew what and when they knew it. The whole situation is messy, chile.