Representative Katie Hill, Democrat of California, found herself in a whole lot of hot water when the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into an alleged affair with a staffer.

Now, if you remember, Hill all but conceded that she and her estraged husband were engaged in a “throuple” relationship with one of her campaign staffers, a young woman. RedState broke that story well over a week ago, and they had plenty of photographic and text evidence. But that isn’t what got the House Ethics Committee involved. Nope, Katie Hill was also accused of having an affair with one of her congressional staffers. The House Ethics rules are crystal clear about relationships with congressional staff, and even though Katie Hill tried to play the “woman” card, she had to know that there was no way the Ethics Committee was going to allow her to use that card in her defense.

Sunday evening, Katie Hill announced her resignation from Congress, to be effective at the end of the week.

It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress. 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.

See my official statement below. pic.twitter.com/nG97RQIwvO

— Rep. Katie Hill (@RepKatieHill) October 27, 2019

This is what needs to happen so that the good people who supported me will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to happily provide a platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built upon cyber exploitation. Having private photos of personal moments weaponized against me has been an appalling invasion of my privacy. It’s also illegal and we are currently pursuing all our available legal options. However, I know that as long as I am in Congress we’ll live fearful of what might come next and howmuch it will hurt. That’s a feeling I know all too well. It’s the feeling I decided to leave when I left my marriage, and one I will not tolerate being forced upon others. I can no longer allow my community, family, friends, staff, supporters, and especially the children who look up to me as a role model to suffer this unprecedented brand of cruelty.”

For the mistakes made along the way and the people who have been hurt, I am so sorry and I am learning. I am not a perfect person, and never pretended to be. It’s one of the things that made my race so special. I hope it showed others that they do belong, that their voice does matter, and that they do have a place in this country. That is something I believe with all my heart. Those of you who know me personally know that I’m a fighter and it’s thanks to countless other fighters who supported me that we were able to stand up for the ideals we believe in. Now my fight is going to be to defeat this type of exploitation that so many women are victims to and which will keep countless women and girls from running for office and entering public life.”

Notice how Ms. Hill has conveniently made herself the poor, wronged victim… while she bravely runs away from her apparent Ethics violations. We are back to the “abusive husband” bit, seemingly in relation to the nude photos that have been published of Hill. Well, it has been alleged that she and her husband posted at least some of those naked pictures online themselves.

It was reported that Hill, 32, who is openly bisexual, and Heslep posted a picture of the nude congresswoman in an online “wife-sharing” thread in 2016, as well as a thread titled “WouldYouF—MyWife?”

If true, that throws the “revenge porn” angle out the window, and again, Katie Hill has no one to blame but herself. So much for “fighting” to “defeat this type of exploitation,” right?

Hill’s resignation is a de facto admission that she had an affair with her legislative director, Graham Kelly. If Katie Hill was only dealing with nude photos, the “throuple” un-throupling, and a nasty divorce, she probably would have toughed it out, even though it is undeniably gross to be having a threesome relationship with a much younger campaign aide. The House Ethics Committee has no jurisdiction to censure Hill for that relationship, even though it was a massive imbalance of power. But a congressional staffer? Hill was in deep trouble, and just how much trouble she was facing was demonstrated in Nancy Pelosi’s statement on Hill’s resignation.

PELOSI on @KatieHill4CA resignation:

“She has acknowledged errors in judgment that made her continued service as a Member untenable. We must ensure a climate of integrity and dignity in the Congress, and in all workplaces.” — @SpeakerPelosi pic.twitter.com/TpUpInY4jw

— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) October 28, 2019

When Nancy Pelosi is making a statement that Katie Hill’s “errors in judgment” made her “untenable” in Congress, this means it wasn’t just the “throuple” crap. Katie Hill was one of the freshman representatives in Democrat House leadership, and was known to be Pelosi’s protégé in Democrat circles. If Pelosi is cutting her losses and tossing Hill aside, you can bet it was for much more than nude photos and threesomes.

But never fear, others are coming to Hill’s defense and bravely playing that “woman” card on her behalf.
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1188609353689063428
I believe the whole point of updating and rewriting the House Ethics rules was to make sure that everyone was appropriately held to account, regardless of gender. This time, it was a woman. So what? After all, imagine if Katie Hill, D-CA, had been Katie Hill, R-CA? Think there would have been a difference in the media coverage? Do you think the “woman” card would have been played for a Republican woman?

Good riddance to Katie Hill and her short-lived congressional career. This seat had previously been held by a Republican, and there were GOP challengers already lining up for 2020. I think it’s safe to say this seat is now a toss up.

Featured image: Representative Katie Hill, official Congressional portrait, public domain