‘Revenge porn’ brings down Democrat star
Until this month Katie Hill was one of the Democratic Party’s brightest young stars, with a landmark electoral victory to her credit, media prominence and a leadership position on Capitol Hill.
Then came allegations, which she blamed on an ‘‘abusive husband’’, of a polyamorous threeway sexual relationship with him and a female campaign staff member, of nude photographs posted on wife-sharing forums and of an affair with a male aide that led to an ethics investigation and the rapid unravelling of her political prospects.
Yesterday Hill, 32, was facing an uncertain future, having announced her resignation from Congress. She told constituents in a letter that she was stepping down ‘‘with a broken heart’’ following an ‘‘illegal’’ and ‘‘appalling’’ invasion of her privacy.
On social media the decision prompted an outpouring of sympathy and revulsion at perceived double standards for male and female politicians.
Hill pinned a defiant new tweet to the top of her Twitter feed: ‘‘To every girl and woman – to everyone who believes in this fight – this isn’t over.’’
Last November she ran for office against an incumbent congressman in a district north of Los Angeles that had been held by Republicans since 1992. She put LGBTQ rights at the centre of her campaign and won a decisive victory. She became a leader among first-term Democrats in Congress.
However, this month the conservative website Red State published a series of articles about Hill, who is in divorce proceedings with Kenny Heslep, her husband of nine years.
They alleged that she was part of a three-way relationship with Heslep and the female staffer, Morgan Desjardins, 24, and that she had a separate affair with her legislative director, Graham Kelly, 31.
The reporting was accompanied by intimate photographs of Hill with the female campaign staff member.
Last week Hill’s lawyers issued a cease and desist letter to the Daily Mail over its coverage.
The House ethics committee announced an investigation into whether Hill, who is bisexual, had breached rules forbidding sexual relationships between politicians and their employees. The rules were introduced last year after harassment allegations against male members of Congress.
Hill has denied the alleged relationship with the male staff member, which would violate House rules, but acknowledged that she had been involved in a relationship with a campaign staffer ‘‘during the final years of my abusive marriage’’.
Some of her colleagues in Washington defended her, including Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, who said that Hill was the victim of ‘‘revenge porn’’ by ‘‘an angry ex’’ and urged Congress not to ‘‘play ‘bedroom police’ ’’.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker, said Hill had made a great contribution but had also ‘‘acknowledged errors that made her continued service as a member untenable’’.
The news site Politico, citing multiple people with knowledge of her plans, said that Hill could leave this week.