WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The White House "could have done better" in dealing with the domestic violence accusations against Rob Porter, former White House secretary who resigned Wednesday, a White House spokesperson said Thursday.

The CNN reported earlier that White House officials knew about the allegations for months but "scrambled to protect him." Porter denied the allegations but resigned abruptly.

Raj Shah, the spokesperson, said a photo of one of Porter's ex-wives released on Wednesday, showing her with a black eye, led West Wing staff to believe the accusations.

Porter's ex-wives made the abuse allegations to the FBI during a routine background check last year.

Trump's top aides, including Chief of Staff John Kelly, knew about the situation but the White House didn't take action to remove him from the position, the CNN reported.

Shah called the allegations "serious and disturbing", but also said that Porter had denied any wrongdoing.

"You have got to take allegations seriously, you have got to take denials seriously," he said.