Hill delivers fiery farewell speech

Katie Hill delivers fiery farewell speech on 'double standard' facing women in power

“I'm stepping down, but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks," she said.

By HEATHER CAYGLE

Rep. Katie Hill delivered a defiant and forceful farewell speech Thursday afternoon, declaring she was resigning because of a “double standard” imposed on women in power and vowing that she will not be “silenced” as she steps away from public life.

Once a freshman rising star, Hill announced her resignation earlier this week after allegations surfaced of an improper sexual relationship with a staffer, a sudden downfall for a promising young lawmaker who had been ascending quickly within House Democratic leadership ranks. Hill’s resignation is effective Friday.

“I'm stepping down, but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light, who dare to be powerful,” Hill, who has denied the allegations, said in the nearly eight-minute speech.

“The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up, to keep running for office, to keep stepping up as leaders, because the more we show up, the less power they have.”

Hill used her last speech as a House member to decry the double standards applied to male and female public officials, to take aim at the conservative outlets that disseminated nude photos of her without her consent and to promise not to shrink from the spotlight as she speaks out against cyber exploitation of women.

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Hill over allegations of an improper sexual relationship with her legislative director Graham Kelly, claims that remain unproven and which Hill strongly denies. The ethics probe will end with Hill’s resignation, as the panel has jurisdiction only over sitting members of Congress. Kelly did not respond to a request for comment.

But the allegations were just one part of a nasty smear campaign that enveloped Hill in recent weeks — allegedly at the hands of her “abusive husband” whom she’s in the process of divorcing — that included multiple nude photos of Hill published on multiple conservative websites.

Some of the salacious and humiliating photos depicted her in intimate moments with a female campaign aide. The relationship, which Hill later apologized for and called “inappropriate,” was not a violation of House rules, though, which cover relationships between members and their congressional staffers.

Hill said the fear of “what might come next and how much it will hurt” — not the allegations of an improper relationship with her male congressional staffer — is what prompted her resignation just 10 months into her first term.

In her final speech, Hill apologized to her family, friends and constituents, saying Thursday was the first time she has left her apartment since the scandal first broke earlier this month and has received “thousands” of threatening messages in the meantime.

But her speech did not directly address the allegations of improper relationships with her staff.

“The mistakes I’ve made and the people I’ve hurt that led to this moment will haunt me for the rest of my life,” Hill said.

“But I have more to say because this is bigger than me,” she added. “I’m leaving now because of a double standard. … 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.”

Hill ended by saying she was proud of her last official act, voting to affirm the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump — who has been accused of more than two dozen instances of sexual misconduct, all of which he denies — “on behalf of the women of the United States."

“A large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women have combined to push a young woman out of power,” Hill said. “Yet a man who brags about his sexual predation, who has had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault ... sits in the highest office of the land.”

Hill has vowed to pursue legal action against anyone involved in the publication and dissemination of the nude photos. The online exploitation, sometimes called “revenge porn,” is illegal in 46 states, including California, where she resides, and the District of Columbia.

Hill is currently going through an acrimonious divorce from her husband Kenny Heslep, who she alleges is behind the smear campaign and who has publicly accused her of having an affair with her staffer. Weeks before conservative news outlets began publishing the photos, Heslep reached out to at least one reporter asking if they wanted “the whole story” of their divorce, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The authors of some of the most damaging articles against Hill previously worked for former GOP Rep. Steve Knight, whom Hill trounced by 9 points in 2018, according to the Times. One of the former aides, Joe Messina, said he first notified the National Republican Congressional Committee that he possessed more than 700 images and texts tied to Hill before writing about them on his blog.

“We never shopped, possessed or circulated photos of Congresswoman Hill. We didn’t see the photos until they were published, just like everyone else,” NRCC communications director Chris Pack said, when asked for comment.

Asked if they were approached about the photos, Pack said he would not comment. Heslep did not respond to requests for comment.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauded Hill as an “absolutely outstanding young public servant” in her weekly news conference Thursday morning.

“She made her decision and her timing, and I respect that,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi also issued a broader warning to be careful on social media — reiterating comments she had privately relayed to senior Democrats earlier in the week — and cautioning that what happened to Hill is “bigger than one person.”

“Regardless of any errors in judgment that anyone may have made, it's shameful that she's been exposed to public humiliation by way of cyber-exploitation,” Pelosi said. “And I caution everyone that they, too, may be subjected to that, so to be careful.”