Former Rep. Katie Hill speaking in July 2019.Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Hill, 32, jokingly addedin a tweet: “You know, I’m gonna take at least partial credit for enough of society knowing this term for it to be on House Hunters. Just sayin.”
Riffing on the article’s headline, shecontinued: “Also ‘representation matters’ has been like my tagline since the beginning so I will take it.”
In a sign of time passing — maybe burdens lessening — it was a far lighter tone than Hill had used last year when discussion the personal and professional turmoil that cut short her tenure in Congress.
As she wrote in aDecember column forThe New York Times, her breaking point almost came with the publication in the conservative blog Red State and British tabloidThe Daily Mailof personal text messages and nude photos revealing, among other things, a sexual relationship she’d had with a female campaign staffer. She wrote in theTimesthat she contemplated suicide soon after her resignation.
Both outlets reported that she’d been in a consensual three-way relationship with a female campaign staffer and her now-estranged husband (she admitted being involved with the campaign worker,calling it “inappropriate”).
Hill wrote in herTimesop-ed in December that she believed Kenny Heslep, whom she was divorcing, was “the source of the images” and the leak was revenge for her leaving. Heslep, who did not previously return PEOPLE’s calls for comment, has reportedlydenied he was the sourceand told his parents his computer was hacked.
“More than half of the victims ofcyber exploitation(also known as revenge porn) contemplate suicide in the aftermath,” Hill wrote in theTimes. “Many have attempted it, and some tragically have succeeded.”
Rep. Katie Hill.Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
The former representative’s decision to leave office capped off a 10-day scandal not only involving the photos and anonymously sourced details about her relationships with the campaign staffer and her husband but, more serious, the allegation that she was having an affair with her male legislative director.
In early 2018, in the shadow of the rise of the #MeToo movement, Congresspassed new rulesforbidding relationships between lawmakers and their staffers as a way to combat sexual harassment and misconduct on Capitol Hill.
Hill is one of the first openly bisexual members of Congress and was given a top position on the House Oversight Committee after flipping a district in Republican control for more than 20 years.
The House Ethics Committee said in October it was going to investigate, as Hill repeatedly denied the affair.
“During the final tumultuous years of my abusive marriage, I became involved in a relationship with someone on my campaign,” Hillsaid in a statement. “I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen against my better judgement. For that I apologize.”
Since leaving office, Hill has become a major voice for fighting cyber exploitation, which more and more lawmakers have sought to address. She alsorecently announcedthe launch of a group calledHer Time, to support female candidates who wish to run for political office.
“I’m excited we’re starting that work,” Hill said last week. “And I’m going to dive all the way in on it.”
source: people.com
