UPDATE 10/28/19 11:04 A.M. PST: Katie Hill has resigned from the House of Representatives over her two sex scandals.
After admitting and apologizing to having an affair with a subordinate during her campaign (she still denies another alleged affair with a congressional staffer), the freshman Congresswoman has now decided to step down.
In her official statement, the 32-year-old lashed out at those she views as responsible for “a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation.” She writes:
“Having private photos of personal moments weaponized against me has been an appalling invasion of my privacy. It’s also illegal, and we are currently pursuing all of our available legal options.”
Hill says her next endeavor will be to protect other women from this kind of revenge porn:
“Now, my fight is going to be to defeat this type of exploitation that so many women are victims to and which will keep countless women and girls from running for office or entering public light.”
Read Katie’s full statement (below):
What do YOU think about Hill resigning from Congress over the scandal??
We have to be honest. We were kind of hopeful the new crop of female politicians winning seats in Congress meant an end to the sex scandals. But between this and Elizabeth Warren‘s S&M escort bombshell (sorry, still laughing about that ridiculous hoax)…
OK, so maybe there will be less misconduct, but it clearly isn’t going away completely.
One of the newest members of the House of Representatives, Katie Hill is now under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics over allegations she had a sexual relationship with a congressional staffer.
Katie is vehemently denying that affair — but is coming clean about a completely different one, this time from a staffer during her campaign. And also the staffer’s husband?
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The California Democrat, who flipped the 25th district which had been held by Republicans for decades, famously ran with her millennial non-politician flag held high.
But apparently her behavior behind the scenes was just as illicit as many of the older men who had faced these kinds of scandals before her.
According to multiple outlets (of varying reliability), 32-year-old Katie began a relationship with 24-year-old campaign staffer Morgan Desjardins in 2017 shortly after hiring her. This relationship was reportedly a consensual one which included Morgan’s husband Kenny Heslep (both seen with Hill above).
The throuple apparently made it well into Katie’s term in office, reportedly having split only in Summer of 2019 when Katie left to focus on her work.
Unlike the hilariously unbelievable Warren story pushed by #HowIsHeNotInJailYet Twitter favorite Jacob Wohl, this sex scandal scoop does appear to be legit.
Katie Hill released an apology letter to her constituents admitting to an affair with a campaign staffer (though she doesn’t confirm the identity or lurid details). She wrote:
“To my family, friends, supporters and members of my community,
It pains me deeply that I have to send you this note at all, but I want you to hear from me so that I can hopefully put to rest some of the gossip, innuendo and lies that have been told in recent days.
During the final tumultuous years of my abusive marriage, I became involved in a relationship with someone on my campaign. Even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment. For that, I apologize.”
Hill later adds:
“I am saddened that the deeply personal matter of my divorce has been brought into a public view, even the false allegations of a relationship with my congressional staffer, which I have publicly denied, and I am fully and proactively cooperating with the Ethics Committee.”
We haven’t seen any evidence behind those allegations, but multiple outlets have rather a lot of evidence of the “throuple” relationship, including screengrabs of text messages. A couple conservative sites even posted nude photos of the Congresswoman brushing the younger woman’s hair.
We do not know if it was a disgruntled ex airing this dirty laundry or if someone else somehow got hold of info from Desjardins’ phone. But as Hill points out forcefully in her apology letter, they may have broken the law to do so:
“But the truth is, distributing intimate photos with the intent to publish them is a crime, and the perpetrator should be punished to the full extent of the law. I have notified Capitol Police, who are investigating it, and therefore will have no further comment on the matter.”
For her part, Hill doesn’t think this is the work of her ex — at least not that one — as she writes:
“I wish nothing but the best for her and hope everyone respects her privacy in this difficult time.”
Who does she think is behind the leak?
She explains:
“I am going through a divorce from an abusive husband who seems determined to try to humiliate me. I am disgusted that my opponents would seek to exploit such a private matter for political gain. This coordinated effort to try to destroy me and the people close to me is despicable and will not succeed.”
“Coordinated effort to try to destroy me” sounds a little Trumpian as a defense… however, we should note the first source of this story seems to be a conservative blog called RedState.
What do YOU think about this scandal?
It’s certainly “inappropriate” as Hill states, seeing as the young woman was her subordinate. But it’s not, say, withholding military aid from an ally until they agree to launch an investigation into your political opponent.
Honestly, in 2019 we don’t even know if this type of scandal can end a political career anymore. Not when the President has lowered the bar so far.
[Image via CBS/YouTube/Instagram.]
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