Conway: ‘I have no reason not to believe the women’ accusing Porter

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday said she has no reason to doubt the two women who are accusing former aide Rob Porter of domestic abuse.

“I have no reason not to believe the women, and a week ago I had no reason to believe that that had ever happened,” Conway told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Porter resigned last week after the allegations from his two ex-wives surfaced. One of the women released a photo of a bruised eye that she said Porter gave her when they were on vacation in 2005.

Questions have swirled about when the White House first became aware of the allegations against Porter, who served in the White House for more than a year and played a critical role as a gatekeeper to President Trump.

Reports have indicated that top officials, including chief of staff John Kelly, knew of the allegations last year. Top officials also defended Porter vigorously after the allegations from one of the ex-wives first surfaced.

Conway said people working together in the White House “do give people the benefit of the doubt” as they go about their day-to-day business.

“I don’t walk around the White House wondering who is this person really. We work in really close quarters together and we’re trying as small pieces of this to do good for the country,” she said.

Conway praised the work Porter did in the White House and said she was shocked when she heard the allegations against him. She said Porter did the right thing when he resigned.

“It does shock the conscience and you try to process it and you try to compare it against the person you work with,” Conway told Tapper. “I believe I saw one of his ex-wives saying that as well, that she thinks he is brilliant and he probably does a great job professionally, and that is also who we saw.”