On Sunday, Freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) announced her resignation from Congress amid damning photographs appeared earlier this week and a House ethics probe due to allegations she had inappropriate sexual relationships with congressional and campaign staffers.
“This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country,” wrote Hill in the statement.
According to The Hill:
The stunning development comes just four days after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into allegations that Hill, 32, had violated House rules by engaging in a sexual relationship with a staffer in her office.
Hill, who identifies as bisexual, had forcefully denied those allegations, saying she was a victim of an “abusive husband” amid their ongoing divorce. Yet at the same time Hill admitted she engaged in a second relationship with a campaign staffer, before she was elected to Congress. Hill last week apologized to her constituents for that dalliance, calling it “inappropriate.”
Several nude photos of Hill were leaked to conservative publications, triggering the ethics complaint. Hill and her attorneys have said she is going through a messy divorce and that she is the victim of revenge porn by her estranged husband.
Hill’s resignation could be the beginning of a big chip in 2018’s Democrat “blue wave” that wiped many House seats in California, where Hill is from.