(CNN) White House spokesman Raj Shah said Thursday that the White House "could have done better" over the last few days when it came to "dealing with" the domestic violence allegations against former top aide Rob Porter.

But Shah also repeatedly declined to get into specifics about how much the White House knew last year about the allegations against Porter. The White House spokesman also claimed that a photo of one of Porter's ex-wives with a black eye published Wednesday changed the conversation inside the West Wing but failed to explain why the administration -- namely chief of staff John Kelly -- needed to see images to believe the accusers.

"I think it's fair to say we all could have done better dealing with this over the last few days," Shah said.

The admission of fault after a chaotic 48-hours in which senior Trump aides looked to inoculate the White House from a domestic violence controversy was a stunning turn for an administration whose top officials -- including the President -- rarely admit mistakes.

Senior aides to President Donald Trump knew for months about allegations of domestic abuse levied against Porter by his ex-wives, even as Porter's stock in the West Wing continued to rise, multiple sources told CNN on Wednesday. Porter's ex-wives detailed the allegations to the FBI over the course of a routine background check, they told CNN's MJ Lee

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