The day after a former Maine political operative accused by his ex-wife of domestic abuse abruptly resigned his job as a White House speechwriter, he vigorously denied the allegations again Saturday even as President Trump complained on Twitter about the effect of false accusations.
David Sorensen, a former senior adviser to Gov. Paul LePage, was the second White House employee to quit over abuse allegations in recent days, and Trump appeared to defend his embroiled former aides.
Sorensen posted an update on Facebook Saturday thanking those supporting him after his ex-wife, Jessica Corbett, another former Maine political consultant, told The Washington Post that Sorensen had run over her foot, burned her hand with a cigarette, threw her into a wall and grabbed her by the hair while on their boat off the Maine coast.
It was the second claim of domestic abuse that surfaced against a Trump aide over the past week, roiling the White House. Sorensen’s resignation followed that two days earlier of Rob Porter, the White House staff secretary, after two ex-wives said he physically abused them. Trump’s tweet Saturday morning about false accusations triggered national headlines, while some Maine Republican politicians appeared to duck the controversy.
Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018
Sorensen, a former spokesman for the Maine Republican Party and Maine Department of Health and Human Services, posted the following message Saturday on Facebook: “Thank you all so much for the incredible outpouring of support and the confidence you have in my character. Your countless notes and calls of encouragement have turned a trying time into something positive. This is very personal but feel free to read what I sent media outlets last night to refute the completely fabricated claims against me by one individual.”
Sorensen was referring to a lengthy statement and photographs of what he claims are cuts and bruises inflicted on him by Corbett. In the statement Friday night, he also listed a number of incidents of what he called “Jessica’s dishonesty-fueled violence,” including an incident when Corbett threw her wedding rings into a snowbank in a fit of rage witnessed by two other people, repeated face-punching of Sorensen by her and other physical abuse.
Repeated attempts to reach Corbett by phone and email were unsuccessful Saturday, but she wrote about her ordeal on Medium, an online publishing platform, where she identified herself as a resident of Portland’s East End.
“It was never my intention to go public. When I was initially approached I hesitated sharing any of the details of this horrible time in my life,” she said in the post. “But then I thought about the thousands of women living in domestic abuse situations on a daily basis and knew I couldn’t be silent and abandon these brave and oftentimes voiceless women.
“I’m writing to you today on Medium because I know the spotlights will point at me for the next few days and rather than rehash details over and over again I decided to let you, the reader, hear my voice directly.
“I never set out to destroy my ex-husband’s career. I felt myself lucky to escape my marriage relatively unscathed. I was happy to leave that ugly period in my life behind and create a new existence filled with optimism and hope. I would have left it alone but I knew deep down that other women weren’t as fortunate and that I had to do something.”
But Robert Foster, a friend of Corbett’s for 10 years and chairman of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans, said Saturday in a phone interview that he witnessed Corbett’s physical abuse of Sorensen at a house party, along with other guests. Foster, who attended the couple’s wedding in Hawaii, said the experience at the house party changed his positive opinion of Corbett and said she “will set back abused women’s rights due to her own self-aggrandizing self-interests.”
“She yelled. She hit. She punched. She took her engagement ring off and threw it in his face. She spat at him. She threw drinks in his face. But I never saw him do anything worse than call her names,” Foster said in an earlier email.
SUPPORT FROM MAYHEW
Trump tweeted Saturday morning on the subject of false accusations, but it was unclear whether he was referring to Sorensen or Porter, whom he defended Friday, calling the allegations against Porter “very sad.”
Referring to lives being shattered by allegations, Trump continued in his 10:33 a.m. Saturday tweet: “Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”
Sorensen said in an email Saturday to the Maine Sunday Telegram that friends had alerted him of the accusations after being contacted by the media. He said he no longer has a home in Maine and is no longer involved in Maine politics. He said that he was the plaintiff in the divorce from Corbett.
Many Maine Republican officials were unavailable for comment Saturday. Phone calls and emails to a variety of Republican state party and legislative officials and Republican gubernatorial candidates, including Shawn Moody and Ken Fredette, were not returned Saturday.
But Mary Mayhew, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and former head of the Department of Health and Human Services, for which Sorensen once worked, called him hardworking and trustworthy.
“I knew David professionally. These allegations are not consistent with David’s character and personality,” Mayhew said in a phone interview Saturday. “I read David’s statement that he is the victim. It is unfortunate that this is being played out in the media. Violence by anyone in a relationship is absolutely wrong.”
Phil Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, issued a statement Saturday.
“These allegations leave us saddened and deeply disturbed. It appears that many people within Maine Republican politics were aware of Sorensen’s violent treatment of his wife and simply turned a blind eye to it because of his powerful position,” Bartlett wrote. “Sorensen worked for Governor LePage, Ken Fredette, and Mary Mayhew – and the governor’s daughter, Lauren LePage, who was personally told of the abuse, now works for Shawn Moody. Fredette, Mayhew, and Moody are three people who want to be Maine’s next governor.
“As we step back to consider what went wrong, many Mainers are asking who knew what when and why nothing was done earlier,” he added.
Sorensen, 32, was a senior aide to LePage until he joined the White House staff last spring as a speechwriter for the Council on Environmental Quality, a division of the Executive Office of the President.
Corbett and Sorensen were once part of the LePage family’s social circle. Corbett was a bridesmaid at the Oct. 17, 2015, wedding of Lauren LePage, the governor’s daughter. Corbett told the Washington Post that on the night of the wedding Sorensen threw her into a wall during an argument.
A month later the governor hired Sorensen as a policy adviser whose responsibilities included domestic violence , a subject the governor, a victim of childhood domestic abuse, has called “the most heinous of all crimes in society.”
Corbett told The Washington Post she confided in Lauren LePage about the alleged abuse and asked her to encourage her father to talk to Sorensen. Lauren LePage said in a statement Friday that while she was aware of problems in Corbett’s marriage she “neither witnessed or saw any evidence of domestic abuse.” Lauren LePage did not return a phone call or email for further comment Saturday.
LePage spokeswoman Julie Rabinowicz said neither the governor, his wife nor his staff received any accusations or evidence of domestic violence on the part of Sorensen.
Several Maine state representatives and residents who worked with Sorensen when he was a press secretary for the Maine House Republicans sent their support to him Saturday on Facebook.
Rep. Nathan Wadsworth, R-Hiram, said in a post to Sorensen that he was “very sorry for you. Her lies are unbelievable.” He said by telephone Saturday that Sorensen’s resignation was surprising. “He is a great guy. It just seems a little knee-jerk. He is not guilty of anything. Innocent until proven guilty,” said Wadsworth.
Wadsworth said he socialized with Sorensen and Corbett and saw no sign of the tumultuous relationship that Sorensen describes in his statement and Corbett described to The Washington Post.
Rep. John Picchiotti, R-Fairfield, wrote on Facebook, “Got your back!”
Originally from Massachusetts, Sorensen came to Maine about seven years ago to work in Republican politics and attend the University of Maine School of Law, where he received a juris doctorate.
He was considered an aggressive and politically combative political operative in Maine. He was also communications director for the Maine House Republicans. In addition, he worked on the U.S. Senate campaign of Charlie Summers in 2012.
Corbett, 32, went to the University of Florida and worked on Sen. Marco Rubio’s first Senate bid in Florida and for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential bid before becoming finance director for U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s successful 2014 campaign for Maine’s 2nd District seat, according to The Washington Post. She most recently worked for the U.S. Senate campaign of Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, but has since left his campaign.
Sorensen said he resigned so that the White House wouldn’t have to “deal with this distraction,” The Washington Post reported.
Corbett told the newspaper that she did not report her abuse allegations to police because of Sorensen’s connections to law enforcement officials.
The couple’s uncontested divorce became final in September.
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