XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: ed.buck@latimes.com   
      
   We don't need dirty perverts in government.   
      
   WASHINGTON —  Rep. Katie Hill (D-Santa Clarita) announced Sunday   
   that she would resign from Congress after allegations that she   
   engaged in affairs with a congressional aide and a campaign   
   staff member became public this month.   
   Hill announced the resignation in a letter to constituents,   
   saying she was stepping down “with a broken heart.”   
      
   The letter did not specify when the resignation would take   
   effect. Hill will be the first female member of Congress to   
   resign in a post-#MeToo era. Her resignation will also be the   
   first after a House rule banning sexual relationships with   
   staffers was enacted last year in response to nearly a dozen   
   male members of Congress resigning amid sexual harassment   
   allegations.   
      
   “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 around cyber   
   exploitation,” Hill wrote in the letter.   
      
   “I know that as long as I am in Congress, we’ll live fearful of   
   what might come next and how much it will hurt.   
      
   “For the mistakes made along the way and the people who have   
   been hurt, I am sorry, and I am learning I am not a perfect   
   person and never pretended to be,” Hill wrote.   
      
   Hill is in divorce proceedings with her husband of nine years,   
   Kenneth Heslep. William Strachan, an attorney for Heslep, said   
   his client had no comment when reached by The Times.   
      
   The resignation marks a dramatic fall for Hill, who was elected   
   to Congress as part of the “blue wave” that allowed Democrats to   
   take the House in 2018. She had been a regular presence on cable   
   news shows and was chosen by her fellow freshmen as their   
   representative to the House leadership. That position gave her a   
   seat at the table with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San   
   Francisco) and some of the biggest names in the national party.   
      
   Pelosi raised money for Hill during the campaign, and Hill   
   defended Pelosi when some Democrats were calling for new   
   leadership. Hill leveraged the relationship in securing a   
   coveted position among House leadership, a spot on the whip team   
   and the vice chairmanship of the powerful House Oversight   
   Committee.   
      
   “Congresswoman Katie Hill came to Congress with a powerful   
   commitment to her community and a bright vision for the future,   
   and has made a great contribution as a leader of the Freshman   
   Class,” Pelosi said in a statement Sunday night. “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.”   
      
   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   
   Hill’s prominence began even before her election. As a   
   candidate, she drew the kind of attention that most first-timers   
   can only dream of: profiles in national newspapers, major   
   fundraisers and social media attention. Vice News spotlighted   
   her campaign in a series of mini-documentaries.   
      
   The fall came just as quickly.   
      
   Last weekend, the conservative website RedState published a   
   series of articles alleging that Hill had engaged in   
   relationships with a member of her campaign staff and the House   
   staffer. Hill denied the relationship with the House employee,   
   which would be a violation of House rules, but did not deny the   
   relationship with the campaign staff member.   
      
   The release of the stories, complete with intimate photos of   
   Hill, sparked debate about a double standard in the male-   
   dominated world of political sex scandals, particularly because   
   Hill has blamed Heslep for releasing the photos. Hill’s   
      
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