Ex-wife says White House staffer asked her to ‘downplay’ blog post describing abuse

An ex-wife of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter says he was in contact with her earlier this week and that he urged her to "downplay" some of her past allegations of domestic abuse.

Jennie Willoughby, who was married to Porter from 2009-2013, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday that Porter asked her two weeks ago to take down a past blog post about her marriage troubles that he said did not accurately depict their relationship. 

Willoughby said she spoke with Porter "a couple of days ago" and he asked her to release a statement, but that she didn't feel comfortable with the wording. Willoughby said Porter wanter her to say that she had "taken some liberties" with her blog post.

"He was asking me to downplay it, and he was asking me to emphasize more of the relationship that he and I have now as opposed to what I experienced in our marriage," she said on CNN. 

Porter resigned on Wednesday after his two ex-wives spoke of experiencing emotional and physical abuse during their marriages. The allegations, which Porter has called "false," were first reported on Tuesday.

White House officials including chief of staff John Kelly are facing scrutiny over why the aide to President TrumpDonald John TrumpTillerson: Russia already looking to interfere in 2018 midterms Dems pick up deep-red legislative seat in Missouri Speier on Trump's desire for military parade: 'We have a Napoleon in the making' MORE was allowed to remain in his position despite a background check clearance that was held up over the abuse allegations. 

Willoughby said she hasn't spoken with Porter since their contact earlier this week.