A White House love triangle? According to a new report by New York magazine, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, leaked the domestic violence allegations against White House aid Rob Porter because he was jealous of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Hope Hicks.
Porter resigned from his position in the White House on February 7 after allegations of physical abuse from his two ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, made headlines. Willoughby told the publication that back in January, Porter asked her to delete a blog post that accused him (without directly using his name) of domestic violence because someone was going to “send it to the media.”
“He did not name names, but he implied that there was a former staffer from the White House who was unhappy with him and was out to get him and take him down and somehow had gotten wind of my blog post … He’s demanding that I take it down and telling me that this former staffer is going to send it to the media,” Willoughby explained, revealing that she believes he was referring to Lewandowski.
Prior to the domestic violence accusations, the Daily Mail reported that Hicks, who was White House communications director at the time, was dating Porter. In Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury, he claimed that Lewandowski had also dated Hicks.
A source told New York magazine that Lewandowski “got wind that [Hicks] was dating Porter, and he could not handle that.” Another source told the publication that “there were still raw feelings.”
Hicks, meanwhile, also recently stepped down from the administration. The New York Times reported on February 28 that Hicks resigned from her position as communications director.
“There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump,” she said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time. “I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country.”
Trump had nothing but good things to say about Hicks in a statement to Us on the same day: “Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person I will miss having her by my side, but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future.”
