Lawmaker says House goodbyes

WASHINGTON — California freshman congresswoman Katie Hill bid a defiant farewell to the House on Thursday, suggesting a double standard forced her resignation during a messy divorce, “gutter” politics and nude photos made public.

Ahead of her last floor speech, Hill, 32, cast her final House vote in favor of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

In her speech, Hill apologized to supporters, especially young girls and those who are different, for letting them down after toppling a Republican incumbent and rocketing toward the top of Democratic politics. Then she turned her fury on a system that she said allows Trump and other men accused of misconduct to remain in some of the country’s highest offices.

Hill announced her resignation Sunday during an ethics investigation into whether she had engaged in an affair with a male congressional staff member, which she denied. Hill, who identifies as bisexual, acknowledged having a consensual affair with a female campaign aide.

Separately, a conservative outlet published nude photos of Hill with another woman, a development she blamed on what she called an abusive husband and ruthless political operatives.

“I’m leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, in this very body and, worst of all, in the Oval Office,” Hill said from the well of the mostly empty House.