(Adds White House saying second staffer resigned over domestic abuse allegations)
By Steve Holland and Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday praised White House aide Rob Porter, who resigned this week after allegations that he abused two former wives, and stressed that Porter has maintained his innocence.
"He says he's innocent, and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump did not express sympathy for the two women who this week gave graphic accounts of the verbal and physical abuse they said they suffered while married to Porter, who resigned on Wednesday.
But he was supportive of his former staff secretary.
"It's obviously a tough time for him. He did a very good job in the White House. And we hope he has a wonderful career," Trump said. "But we absolutely wish him well." Later on Friday, the White House said a second Trump administration official had resigned over allegations of domestic abuse.
David Sorensen, a speechwriter who worked at the Council on Environmental Quality, resigned after being confronted by White House officials, spokesman Raj Shah said.
"Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations. We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today," Shah said in a statement.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Sorensen's former wife claimed he was violent and emotionally abusive during their two-and-a-half-year marriage, accusations that he denied, saying that she had in fact victimized him.
Sorensen told the Post in a text message that he stepped down because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction."
"It should be able to focus on continuing President Trump's historic accomplishments for the American People," he said in the text message, the paper reported.
Porter's abrupt departure has raised questions about how long it took Trump's team to act on the accusations.
Some senior White House officials were generally aware of the allegations before Trump found out a report surfaced on DailyMail.com, a source familiar with the matter said.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has so far taken the brunt of the blame. Kelly told reporters on Friday that he was informed in November that Porter had allegations against him that were delaying his security clearance, but that he did not know the full extent until this week, MSNBC said.
Kelly and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders both issued statements calling Porter a man of "integrity" in response to the initial Daily Mail report that Porter's two former wives had accused him of abuse.