Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah sent letters of apology to the ex-wives of former White House staffer Rob Porter, the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple tweeted Saturday night. The senator apologized for his initial statements dismissing Colbie Holderness and Jennie Willoughby, who bravely came forward with their stories of abuse by Porter.
In Sen. Hatch’s initial statement in response to the reports of abuse, he unequivocally defended the former staffer saying, “It's incredibly discouraging to see such a vile attack on such a decent man” and “shame on the politically motivated, morally bankrupt character assassins that would attempt to sully a man's good name.” Porter was once Hatch’s chief of staff.
It’s a pretty shocking and abhorrent statement, but Hatch says it’s because he was going on limited information. Once more evidence came to light, he issued a second statement in response to the Porter blowup, denouncing domestic violence as “abhorrent.”
He apparently didn’t think the second, improved statement was enough since he sent direct apologies to Willoughby and Holderness.
How did the women respond? Wemple says Willoughby seems to welcome the apology—and believes it’s sincere.
It’ll be interesting to hear what Hatch’s people say when they’re back in the office on Monday.