New report shows Hope Hicks' life over the past few months has been like a soap opera

When she leaves Washington, D.C., don't expect to see outgoing White House Communications Director Hope Hicks write a juicy memoir or run for office. "She doesn't particularly like politics," one person close to Hicks told New York's Olivia Nuzzi. "She's loyal to Mr. Trump." Nuzzi spoke with more than 30 current and former White House officials about Hicks, and among other things, she learned more about her terminated relationship with Rob Porter, the onetime White House staff secretary.

Last month, Porter's two ex-wives went public with abuse allegations, and one, Jennifer Willoughby, told Nuzzi that Porter asked her repeatedly to take down a blog post that detailed the accusations without naming Porter. She declined, and in late January he called again, demanding she take it down because someone "was unhappy with him" and going to alert the media. At first Willoughby thought it was former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, because Porter blocked him from sharing his "racist agenda," she said, but now she thinks it was actually Corey Lewandowski — Trump's former campaign manager.

Lewandowski and Hicks reportedly had an affair during the campaign, and one person told Nuzzi that Lewandowski "has, sort of, Single White Male characteristics." Not only did he dislike Porter, he also doesn't like White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who at first defended Porter after the abuse allegations became public (they were already known in the White House).

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The person who tipped off the media about the abuse knew "this would be part of a larger story related to security clearances and John Kelly and others, seeking to sow chaos and dissension," Nuzzi was told. Kelly himself is no fan of Hicks, calling her "the high schooler" and "immature," because he "doesn't like a woman that potentially has some position of power over him," one person told Nuzzi. Read the entire, in-depth article at New York.