Democratic Congresswoman Katie Hill (D-CA) stepped down on Monday after a series of allegations were levelled against the 32-year-old American politician accusing her of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with her Congressional male staffer and a female staffer from her 2018 campaign.
The lawmaker from California, announced her resignation on social media, "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", she said in her letter. Hill was being investigated by the House Ethics committee for an inappropriate relationship with a congressional staffer, an allegation that she has denied.
The scandal broke out after a conservative news website RedState posted an article on October 18, revealing the lawmaker's affair with a congressional staffer and the female campaign staffer. The website also put out several private pictures of the lawmaker. Last week, Hill admitted and apologised for her relationship with her campaign staffer.
In the resignation post, she has accused her husband, whom she described as 'abusive' and a 'monster', and has blamed 'the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to provide platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built upon cyber exploitation'. She has described the scandal as 'an appalling invasion of privacy' and that she's pursuing all the legal options available.
This is seen as a huge setback for the Democrat caucus. Hill was elected to the office in the 2018 mid-term elections by defeating incumbent Republican Steve Knight.
