Lodi News-Sentinel

Rep. Hill defends actions

- By Jennifer Haberkorn and Sarah D. Wire

WASHINGTON — Embattled Rep. Katie Hill, DPalmdale, on Monday defended herself against the barrage of “revenge porn” she said was circulated by her estranged husband, and she vowed that her new cause would be preventing such attacks on other women.

The freshman Democrat announced Sunday evening she would resign from Congress “with a broken heart” after the release of intimate photos and allegation­s she had had affairs with both a campaign aide and a staffer in her congressio­nal office.

In a nearly four-minute video posted on her social media accounts Monday, Hill said she would take up the new cause but did not address the allegation­s of affairs.

“My fight is not over,” she said. “I will fight to make sure that no one else has to live through what I just experience­d.”

Hill portrayed herself the victim of an “abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives” and said they would be held responsibl­e.

“I’m hurt, I’m angry. The path that I saw so clearly for myself is no longer there,” she said, appearing to grow emotional as she apologized to her constituen­ts. “I never thought my imperfecti­ons would be weaponized and used to try to destroy me and the community that I have loved.”

Previously, Hill acknowledg­ed the relationsh­ip with a campaign aide as a mistake but denied the allegation involving a congressio­nal staffer, which would have been a violation of House rules.

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