- Rep. Katie Hill in a Monday video message to supporters said her career after Congress would focus on campaigning for victims of revenge porn, a term referring to the unauthorized publication of explicit images.
- Hill announced her resignation Sunday after the conservative blog RedState and the DailyMail.com published nude pictures of her while detailing claims she had had relationships with two staffers.
- “Some people call this electronic assault, digital exploitation,” Hill said. “Others call it revenge porn. As a victim of it, I call it one of the worst things we can do to our sisters and our daughters.”
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Rep. Katie Hill on Monday said she would campaign for those affected by so-called revenge porn, citing the unauthorised publication of nude pictures of her online as the reason behind her resignation from Congress.
Hill said this weekend that she would step down after nude photographs of her were published alongside claims that she had relationships with members of her political staff, which sparked a formal investigation.
“I will fight to ensure that no one else has to live through what I just experienced,” she said in the video message Monday.
“Some people call this electronic assault, digital exploitation. Others call it revenge porn. As the victim of it, I call it one of the worst things we can do to our sisters and our daughters.”
She added: "I will not allow my experience to scare off other young women or girls from running for office. For the sake of all of us we cannot let that happen."
Hill announced her resignation on Sunday. The conservative blog RedState and the news website DailyMail.com earlier in October published pictures of her nude while detailing claims she was involved in a polyamorous relationship with her now-estranged husband and a female campaign staffer during her run for Congress.
They also aired allegations that she had an affair with one of her male congressional staffers after her election.
Hill acknowledged having an "inappropriate" relationship with the female staffer but has denied having a relationship with the male staffer - an allegation that, if true, would break congressional rules banning relationships between lawmakers and their staff.
Revenge porn, or publishing sexually explicit pictures of someone without permission, has been illegal in California since 2013.
In a letter last week, her legal team threatened legal action against the Daily Mail, claiming that its publication of the images breached the revenge-porn laws.
In her resignation statement Sunday, she said she was weighing her legal options over the publication of the images.
You all deserve to hear from me about why I made this devastating decision and where things go from here. I said the fight continues. I mean it, and I hope you’re with me. https://t.co/ogKkyW7I6f
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) October 28, 2019
Last week, the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating the reports that Hill had had an affair with the male staffer.
In her video Monday, she said she had resigned so "my supporters, my family, my staff and our community will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives."
She has alleged that her husband, with whom she is undergoing an acrimonious divorce, played a role in spreading the information that prompted her resignation.
In a statement last week, Hill said she had referred publication of the images to the Washington, D.C., Capitol Police.