Senator Orrin Hatch has reportedly apologized to Rob Porter‘s ex-wives to his initial statements defending the ex-White House aide.

Porter used to work for Hatch, and in the days following the revelations of domestic abuse allegations against Porter, Hatch issued multiple statements.

His first statement defended Porter from the “vile attack” against him. His second statement walked back the first and made it clear he thinks domestic violence is abhorrent.

After that, he said he hoped Porter reconsiders and stays in his position. And following THAT, he said that it’s better that he resigned, adding that while he doesn’t take “all” of the allegations seriously, there’s enough there to be a serious problem.

Well, both Colbie Holderness and Jennie Willoughby have now apparently received letters of apology from Hatch.

Per CNN:

“It was a sincere apology for pain he may have caused us,” Jennie Willoughby, Porter’s second ex-wife, told CNN… In the letter, Willoughby said Hatch “reiterated his explanation as to why his statement changed between the two Daily Mail articles.” Willoughby declined to share the letter, but said Hatch explained that he “was unaware of the nature of the article and was under the impression political enemies were mounting an attack against Rob, which is why he released the first statement to the White House.” Colbie Holderness, Porter’s first ex-wife, confirmed to CNN that she also received a letter from Hatch.

Days after the Daily Mail‘s story broke, its U.S. political editor David Martosko provided this account of how they ended up with Hatch’s initial defensive statement:

Tick-tock for the benefit of other reporters:

On Tuesday I first shared the Rob Porter allegations with the White House at 4:40pm. The White House emailed me statements from Porter, Sarah Sanders, Orrin Hatch and John Kelly shortly after 7pm. Our first story went live at 7:09pm. — David Martosko (@dmartosko) February 8, 2018

[image via screengrab]

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