Calif Rep Katie Porter’s ex-husband stands by domestic abuse allegations against her, contradicting campaign

FIRST ON FOX: The ex-wife of a California Democrat Senate candidate Rep. Katie Porter he said he was “not retracting” his domestic abuse allegations against the congressman after his campaign said he did.

The allegations against Porter include claims that he threw a hot potato at his then-wife’s head and broke a glass that led to shards of glass cutting her. Porter separately faced accusations of running a toxic, emotionally abusive workplace by former employees.

According to divorce documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Porter and her ex-husband, Matt Hoffman, both filed domestic violence restraining orders against each other after an April 2013 dispute at the home they shared while legally separated.

Hoffman said Porter hit him “on the arm, causing a big bruise,” threw a boiling potato at his head and mocked him as “too dumb” to have a cellphone. He said the congressman “waited all day, then called the police” and “made false allegations” against him 11 hours after the confrontation while brushing their teeth the day police were called to their residence.

KATIE PORTER DENIES DOMESTIC ABUSE ALLEGATIONS, INCLUDING CLAIMS THAT SHE THROWED HOT POTATOES AT HUSBAND’S HEAD

Police arrested Hoffman on domestic battery charges after a confrontation in April 2013. Porter requested a temporary restraining order the next day.

Documents obtained by Fox News Digital indicate that Hoffman regretted making allegations against Porter in a court-ordered child custody review, but did not specify whether his regret was due to a lack of truth. or other reasons.

Porter’s campaign told Fox News Digital that Hoffman “retracted” his statement, but Hoffman said he “has not retracted” his allegations against the congresswoman.

Hoffman said he didn’t “recall saying I regretted making the allegations but, again, it was a long time ago.”

“I’m not retracting the allegations,” Hoffman added.

Porter’s spokeswoman, Lindsay Reilly, told Fox News Digital that on “the morning of the hearing on Porter’s request for a temporary restraining order following her then-husband’s documented violence, her then-husband’s attorney filed an equivalent request for protection.”

“This common defense tactic was designed to intimidate a victim. Her then-wife admitted, as evidenced by the attached document, that she ‘regretted making these allegations,'” Reilly said.

“Porter’s then-wife’s allegation was not supported by any evidence, except that she was wrong and later retracted the statement,” he continued.

Porter’s campaign told Fox News Digital that Hoffman “retracted” his statement, but Hoffman said he “has not retracted” his allegations against the congresswoman. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images/File)

“Porter’s account is supported by police accounts, a doctor’s recommendation after a child custody review, his sole request for a relocation order and property control, and ultimately the decision of a judge giving his majority physical custody,” Reilly added.

Porter has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations, which Hoffman made amid a contentious separation and divorce proceeding in 2012 and 2013. But the accusations resurfaced after several former Porter staffers blew the whistle on what they described as Porter’s toxic, emotionally abusive management style.

Porter and Hoffman separated in March 2013 and continued to live together until their divorce was finalized in December of that year, but the two were abusive to each other during their separation together.

Divorce filings obtained by Fox News Digital include allegations in 2012 from Hoffman that Porter broke a coffee glass after getting angry at their dirty home, causing her to cut her hands and arms.

Hoffman also alleged that, while married, the congressman frequently berated her as a “f—ing idiot” and “f—ing incompetent” and threw “steaming hot potatoes” at her head during a confrontation in 2006.

“He wouldn’t let me have a cellphone because he said, ‘You’re too dumb to operate it,'” Hoffman said in comments first resurfaced by the Daily Mail this week.

In his restraining order, Porter said Hoffman swore at him and called him names and “grabbed both of them. [of her] hand and squeezed” during the April 2013 confrontation that led to his arrest.

The congressman also alleged that Hoffman used his elbow to push her aside after he lunged at her, causing her to trip and catch herself on a nearby bookshelf.

Porter said she looked for her son during the altercation and Hoffman yelled at her that she was “ruining” their family with the divorce.

In his restraining order, Porter said Hoffman swore at him and called him names and “grabbed both of them. [of her] hand and squeezed” during the April 2013 confrontation that led to his arrest. (Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for The Makers Conference / File)

“He wouldn’t let me leave. It was like five minutes or so I was trapped in the laundry room with him,” Porter said in the divorce documents.

“He told me I better not call the police, because if I did, our kids would be going into foster care,” Porter said. “More frighteningly, the respondent said, ‘Do you want me to kill myself? Is that what you’re trying to do here?'”

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Hoffman is the primary caregiver for the couple’s three children while Porter is the breadwinner for the family.

On April 30, 2013, Hoffman filed a restraining order in Orange County Superior Court one day before Porter’s temporary order was set to expire.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.