Resigned Rep Katie Hill Blames ‘Disgusting’ Right-Wing Media for Role in Her Husband’s ‘Abuse’ (Video)

Hill says she will “take up a new fight” against revenge porn

One day after U.S. Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) resigned under a cloud of ethics investigations, she released a video statement on YouTube berating the right-wing media and vowing to take on the issue of “revenge porn” that she said led to her political downfall.

“I made this decision so that my supporters, my family, my staff and our community will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives,” she said, reiterating her belief that her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep, sought to destroy her reputation.

Hill, who represented California’s 25th district that includes northern Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County, resigned after the public revelation of a relationship with a former campaign staffer, which was bolstered by the release of intimate photos. She has denied an additional accusation of having an improper relationship with a current congressional staffer.

“This coordinated campaign carried out by the right-wing media and Republican opponents, enabling and perpetuating my husband’s abuse by providing him a platform, is disgusting and unforgivable, and they will be held accountable,” she continued. “But I will not allow myself to be a distraction from the constitutional crisis we are faced with and the critical work of my colleagues.”

For that reason, Hill said, she’s taking her “personal fight” out of Congress: “I will fight to ensure that no one else has to live through what I just experienced. Some people call this electronic assault, digital exploitation. Others call it revenge porn. As the victim of it, I call it one of the worst things we can do to our sisters and our daughters.

A year ago, TheWrap called Hill “the next wave of policymakers,” writing, “Her grassroots campaign has galvanized young people in her L.A.-area district to take part in the political process, many for the first time. Hill spent the last decade leading People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), transforming it into California’s largest homeless services organization.”

In her video, Hill referenced her grassroots campaign and history of working to combat homelessness, noting she plans to keep fighting for people who can’t fight for themselves.

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