Former “throuple” Rep. Katie Hill calls on former friend and colleague Rep. Matt Gaetz to be “held accountable” if there is “even a fraction of the truth” in reports of sexual misconduct – despite defending the former police officer as she roared in a scandal involving sleeping with her subordinate.
Hill recalled in an op-ed on Monday in Vanity Fair the unlikely bond that developed between herself and Gaetz, who is at odds with his political life after allegations that he showed lawmakers photos and videos of naked women he claimed to have slept with and an alleged extortion plot.
The 33-year-old California Democrat, the 33-year-old, said she met 38-year-old Florida Republican when she replaced him as the youngest member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The panel, as Hill noted, is known as one of the last truly bipartisan committees remaining in Congress.
In addition to their time spent together on committee, the two got close to each other in the Fox News greenrooms as both appeared regularly on the network.
Months later, when Hill was faced with intense scrutiny over having a three-way relationship with her then-husband and a female executive, and started leaking nude photos of her, Gaetz came to her rescue.
“The silence of my own democratic colleagues was deafening. I was devastated, although I understood. People were nervous. And no one wants to defend an abuser, ”the former lawmaker explained.
Then, suddenly, Fox’s golden boy stood up for me. Matt was the first member of Congress to defend me publicly and blatantly, saying that while I may have made mistakes, I was a victim in this circumstance. “
The unlikely friends stayed in touch long after Hill stepped down in October 2019, she wrote, texting occasionally until after the 2020 presidential election, when Gaetz supported disputing the results and questioned the outcome.
When Matt became ambiguous after the January 6 uprising, I wondered how I could have ever thought of us as friends. But in difficult times, sometimes the most unlikely people support you, ”she wrote.
Hill then turned to the allegations that Gaetz is currently facing.
If, despite his denials, Matt Gaetz had sex with a minor, if he gave girls and young women drugs and money and gifts in exchange for sex, if he asked these girls and young women to recruit other women for the same purpose, and if he showed his colleagues pictures of naked women without their consent, he should be held responsible, ”she said, not specifying what that would mean.
“Some of these actions are criminal and some should be,” she continued. “They are all morally reprehensible and unacceptable to a legislator.”
“If there is even a fraction of the truth in these reports, he should resign immediately.”
A Gaetz spokesperson could not be immediately reached by The Post for comment on Hill’s op-ed.
Gaetz has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. In a defiant opinion in the Washington Examiner Monday, the controversial lawmaker said he was “absolutely not resigning” because he blamed the scandal on “political opponents.”