Trump: “Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”

President Trump fired off a tweet Saturday morning, asking, “Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?” He said some people’s lives “are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation.” 

Mr. Trump didn’t mention anyone specific in the tweet, which came after accusations of abuse against two now-former aides.

One of those aides is Rob Porter, who resigned this week after his two former wives came forward and accused him of abusing them. On Friday night, The Washington Post first reported another White House aide, David Sorensen, resigned after his ex-wife accused him of abuse, including running over her foot with a car.  

Porter’s first wife, Colbie Holderness, revealed an image of herself with a blackened eye in 2005, which she said she received from Porter punching her while they were on vacation in Florence, Italy. In June 2010, Porter’s second wife, Jennie Willoughby, filed an emergency protective order against Porter, whom she says dragged her naked from the shower.

Porter has denied the allegations.

In the wake of the claims, the president wished Porter well on Friday, saying nothing of Porter’s accusers other than he was “very sad” to hear of the allegations.

“He worked very hard,” the president said in the Oval Office Friday. “I found out about it recently and I was surprised by it. But we certainly wish him well. It’s obviously a tough time for him. He did a very good job when he was in the White House. And we hope he has a wonderful career, and hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it, and certainly he’s also very sad. Now he also as you probably know, he says he’s innocent. And I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent. So you’ll have to talk to him about that. But we absolutely wish him well. Did a very good job while he was at the White House.”

The White House’s response to the allegations leveled against Porter sent the White House scrambling. Porter warned White House counsel Don McGahn in January 2017 that there could be a holdup with his security clearance, CBS News has reported. In June 2017, Porter’s preliminary file was sent from the FBI to the White House security office. It contained information from his ex-wives alleging abuse. The file never went to McGahn personally, but it may have gone to another attorney in the White House counsel’s office. In September of 2017, Porter told McGahn the FBI had interviewed him a second time. 

McGahn became more clearly aware of the nature of those concerns in November 2017 when Porter’s former girlfriend called him to tell him of the abuse allegations from the former wives. Shortly after that, McGahn informed chief of staff John Kelly that there could be problems related to Porter’s security clearance. But, the White House took no action, waiting until after the Daily Mail reported the former wives’ claims Tuesday night. White House communications director Hope Hicks, CBS News has confirmed, is dating Porter, although it’s unclear when she became aware of the allegations.

CBS News’ Arden Farhi contributed to this report.