The White House just lost a second staffer in less than a week over abuse allegations

White House Photo

The Colonnade to the Outer Oval Office.

• White House speechwriter David Sorensen has resigned, following accusations of physical and emotional abuse leveled against him by his former wife, Jessica Corbett.
• Sorensen rebuffed Corbett's claims, saying he was the victim.
• Both Sorensen and Corbett provided photographic evidence of their alleged injuries.

White House speechwriter David Sorensen has resigned, following his former wife's allegations of violence and emotional abuse, according to a Washington Post report published on Friday.

Ex-wife Jessica Corbett said she feared for her life and said Sorensen had driven a car over her foot, extinguished a cigarette on her hand, and threw her toward a wall, The Post reported. She provided text messages and emails that she said proved the alleged abuse - including a picture of a scar on her hand she said resulted from the cigarette burn.

Corbett acknowledged that some of the incidents involved alcohol, according to The Post, and said she slapped him after he allegedly abused her verbally, the newspaper said.

Sorensen denied Corbett's allegations in the report, instead claiming that he also suffered abuse during their marriage of over two years. Sorensen repudiated Corbett's account and recounted incidents in which he claimed that she punched him in the face as he was driving. He also claimed that she had intentially injured herself.

Sorensen also provided photos of injuries he said Corbett gave him, and said that the "incident is an opportunity to highlight the grossly underreported and unacknowledged issue of female-on-male domestic violence," The Post reported.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said in statement that the administration "confronted" Sorensen on the matter, after which Sorensen denied the allegations and resigned. Sorensen said in a text message that he made his decision because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction," according to The Post.

"It should be able to focus on continuing President Trump's historic accomplishments for the American People," Sorensen reportedly said in his text message.

Sorensen's departure follows White House staff secretary Rob Porter's resignation on Wednesday. Porter resigned after two ex-wives accused him of physically and verbally abusing them during their marriages. Porter denied the allegations and called it "a coordinated smear campaign."

Read the full Washington Post report here »