Rob Porter's ex-wife is worried about the safety of his girlfriend Hope Hicks

The first wife of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter has written an incendiary op-ed about their abusive relationship, calling out the White House for its equivocation on the issue and expressing concern for Porter’s current girlfriend, a top aide in the administration.

Colbie Holderness is one of Porter’s two ex-wives, whose allegations of physical and mental abuse by their former husband triggered his resignation last Wednesday. The Washington Post published her op-ed Tuesday, accompanied by a picture of her with a black eye allegedly caused by Porter in the early 2000s.

Addressing comments made by White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway on a Sunday news show, Holderness wrote that she appreciated Conway didn’t dispute the accounts of abuse that she and Porter’s second ex-wife, Jennifer Willoughby, had made against him.

But she was concerned to hear Conway state that she wasn’t worried about the wellbeing of Porter’s current girlfriend, Hope Hicks, the White House communications director. Conway told CNN Sunday that she wasn’t concerned for Hicks, about whom she said: “I've rarely met somebody so strong with such excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts.”

Conway’s statement, Holderness wrote, “implies that those who have been in abusive relationships are not strong. I beg to differ.”

“Being strong — with excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts — does not inoculate a person against abuse. It doesn’t prevent her from entering into a relationship with an abuser. Abuse often doesn’t manifest itself early on — only later, when you’re in deep and behind closed doors.”

Holderness wrote that her former husband’s dark side only revealed itself after they got married, following three years of dating.

“For me, living in constant fear of Rob’s anger and being subjected to his degrading tirades for years chipped away at my independence and sense of self-worth,” she wrote.

She finally left Porter as a shell of her former self, she said, with her self-confidence so battered that she was scared to apply for anything other than waitressing jobs.

Porter has denied the allegations of abuse.

Holderness wrote of her disappointment at attempts by White House aides to explain away President Donald Trump’s conflicting statements on the allegations, as questions swirl about who in the administration knew what and when. Senior officials including Chief of Staff John Kelly were aware of the allegations before they became public, according to reports.

In response to questions about the scandal, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders read the following prepared statement Monday: “The president and the entire administration take domestic violence very seriously and believe all allegations need to be investigated thoroughly. Above all, the President supports victims of domestic violence and believes everyone should be treated fairly and with due process.”

But she declined to answer questions about whether Trump believes Holderness and Willoughby. Holderness wrote of that lack of a response: “While I cannot say I am surprised, I expected a woman to do better.”

Trump’s public comments on the Porter scandal have conflicted with statements made by his aides, raising questions about the president’s true thoughts on the issue. While aides have described him as “disturbed” and “saddened” by the affair, Trump has struck a different note in his own comments.

On Friday, he stressed that Porter maintained his innocence and had been a great employee; the following day he made a cryptic tweet complaining that “People’s lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false.”

Beyond the vague statement of support for victims of domestic violence in general Monday, Trump has yet to express a word of sympathy for Porter’s alleged victims, and no one from the White House has reached out to Holderness or Willoughby since they went public with their stories, CNN’s MJ Lee tweeted Tuesday.