Katie Hill Gives Farewell Speech to Congress, Denouncing ‘Gutter Politics’

Representative Katie Hill, the first-term Democratic congresswoman who resigned her House seat this week, delivered an impassioned farewell speech on Capitol Hill on Thursday, denouncing “gutter politics” and attributing her resignation to a double standard toward women.

Ms. Hill, who represented a suburban Los Angeles district, said she was resigning because of a harassment campaign that included the online publication of nude photos taken of her without her consent. Her last day is Friday.

Ms. Hill blamed the release of the pictures on Republican operatives and on her husband, Kenny Heslep, whom she is divorcing. The pictures were published by the conservative website RedState and The Daily Mail, and articles from both outlets were widely shared on social media. She said she had also faced a barrage of threatening messages.

“I’m leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching,” Ms. Hill said. “I am leaving because of the thousands of vile, threatening emails, calls and texts that made me fear for my life and the lives of the people that I care about.”

Source: The New York Times

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