Former “throuple” congresswoman Katie Hill is calling on ex-friend and fellow deputy Matt Gaetz to be “held accountable” if “there is a fraction of the truth” in reports of sexual misconduct – although he defends the ex-police while she he was clouded by a scandal involving sleeping with his subordinate.
Hill recalled in an opinion piece on Monday at Vanity Fair the unlikely bond that formed between her and Gaetz, who is in the struggle of her political life after accusations that showed legislators photos and videos of naked women with whom he claimed to have slept extortion plot.
The California Democrat, 33, said she met the Florida Republican, 38, when she replaced him as the youngest member of the House’s Armed Services Committee.
The panel, as Hill pointed out, is known to be one of the last truly bipartisan committees remaining in Congress.
In addition to the time they spent together on the committee, the two became close in Fox News’s green rooms, as both appeared regularly on the network.
Months later, when Hill faced intense scrutiny for having a three-way relationship with her then husband and a female employee, and photos of her naked began to leak, Gaetz came to her defense.
“The silence of my own Democratic colleagues was deafening. I was devastated, although I understood. People were nervous. And nobody wants to defend an aggressor ”, explained the ex-congressman.
“Then, all of a sudden, Fox’s golden boy spoke for me. Matt was the first member of Congress who publicly and unapologetically defended me, saying that although I might have made mistakes, I was a victim in that circumstance. “
The unlikely friends kept in touch long after Hill resigned in October 2019, she wrote, occasionally texting until after the 2020 presidential election, when Gaetz supported contesting the results and questioning the result.
“When Matt doubled his position after the January 6 uprising, I questioned how he could consider us friends. But in difficult times, sometimes the most unlikely people support you, ”she wrote.
Hill then turned to the charges that Gaetz currently faces.
“If, despite his denials, Matt Gaetz had sex with a minor, if he provided girls and young women with drugs, money and gifts in exchange for sex, if they asked these girls and women to recruit other women for the same purpose, and if he showed his colleagues images of naked women without their consent, he needs to be held responsible, ”she said, without specifying what that would imply.
“Some of these actions are criminal and others should be,” she continued. “Everyone is morally reprehensible and unacceptable to a legislator.”
“If there is a fraction of the truth in these reports, he should resign immediately.”
A spokesman for Gaetz could not immediately be reached by The Post to comment on Hill’s article.
Gaetz denied any accusations of sexual misconduct. In a challenging article in the Washington Examiner on Monday, the troubled lawmaker said he “would absolutely not resign” because he blamed “political opponents” for the scandal.