Congresswoman Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who was recently revealed to have had two inappropriate relationships with staffers, announced her resignation from Congress Sunday evening.
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
The House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into Hill on Wednesday. Hill seemed prepared to fight the allegations, despite photographic evidence of her improper relationship with a young female staffer, and positioned herself as the victim of an abusive husband. “It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress,” her statement began. “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.”
According to her statement, Hill intends to pursue her legal options over the release of her private photos. “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 of our available legal options.”
Hill managed to not only play the victim card, but also to use this incident to claim the mantle of crusader against the exploitation of women. “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 public office.”
Let’s be clear here: Katie Hill is not the victim. As surprising as it is, she’s chosen to resign rather than wait this out; playing the victim card is absurd considering she’s the one who engaged in improper relationships with her subordinates. I’ll give her credit for doing the right thing by resigning—a rarity for Democrats—but playing the victim is just wrong.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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