Inside Hope Hicks' Troubled Romances with Ousted Top Trump Aides Rob Porter and Corey Lewandowski
President Trump‘s communications director Hope Hicks has now been romantically linked to not one but two ousted Trump aides who have been accused of violence against women.
The Daily Mail reported last week that Hicks, 29, has been dating former top aide Rob Porter, 40, who resigned on Wednesday amid allegations of abuse from his two ex-wives.
The newspaper published photos of Hicks and Porter recently enjoying dinner and drinks with Ivanka Trump and others at Rosa Mexicano in Washington, D.C., before appearing to return to Hicks’ apartment alone together.
The Daily Mail said Hicks and Porter did not sit next to each other at the restaurant but that an eyewitness spotted them kissing and cuddling in the back of a taxi on their way home.
According to The Daily Mail, speculation that the two were romantically involved started last month, after Hicks and Porter were seen at a Washington, D.C., area church service on Jan. 7. Though Hicks is Roman Catholic and Porter is Mormon, they were reportedly seen praying together.
CNN also reported that Porter has been dating Hicks, citing several people familiar with their relationship. Hicks did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Porter’s ex-wives Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby went public with their accusations in The Daily Mail this week, alleging that Porter verbally and physically abused them during their respective marriages. (Porter has released a statement saying “these outrageous allegations are simply false.”)
This isn’t the first time Hicks, a former model who is one of Trump’s closest and most trusted advisors, has been romantically linked to a fellow White House aide with reported anger issues.
In Michael Wolff’s explosive exposé Fire and Fury, the author claimed that Hicks and Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, 44, were involved in an on-off relationship.
The reported pairing prompted Trump to tell Hicks on one occasion that she was “the best piece of tail” Lewandowski will ever have, according to Wolff.
Lewandowski has also faced allegations of violence. In March 2016, amid Trump’s campaign, Lewandowski was charged with battery by Jupiter, Florida police, who said he grabbed reporter Michelle Fields as she tried to ask Trump a question.
Lewandowski initially denied ever touching Fields, but security-camera images later showed him roughly pulling her, The New York Times reported at the time, citing a police report. Lewandowsky ultimately turned himself in on the misdemeanor charge but was quickly released.
Trump stood by Lewandowski at the time but fired him shortly thereafter, in June 2016.
In December, Joy Villa, a singer and vocal Trump supporter, accused Lewandowski of inappropriate sexual behavior, alleging he slapped her butt multiple times at a holiday party. She reported the incident to Metropolitan Police on Christmas Eve. Lewandowski responded to the allegations by telling FOX Business’ Charles Payne in December: “There is a due process and there is a process which they will go through to determine a person’s innocence, which I think you’ve been through, and you understand it and you respect it.”
Hicks has reportedly seen Lewandowski’s dark side as well. In the summer of 2016, then-campaign manager Lewandowski gave Hicks a choice: Remain on the campaign or return to the Trump Organization, where Hicks had previously worked for Ivanka Trump on real-estate projects.
According to GQ, when she chose the latter, Lewandowski reportedly told Hicks, “You’re f–king dead to me.” In May 2016, the two were spotted having a screaming match on the street in New York City, Page Six reported.
