Former Rep. Katie Hill acknowledged that she made the right decision in stepping down from her California congressional seat last year.
Hill, 32, was emersed in scandal after photos published in October showed her naked in a hotel room, brushing the hair of a female staffer who worked on her 2018 campaign. Additional photos were later published that showed her holding a bong while undressed, and she was further accused of having an affair with a staffer in her congressional office.
The Democrat apologized and admitted she had an affair with the female campaign aide; however, she denied the other affair allegation and resigned days later.
In an interview Thursday morning, Hill told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, “I strongly feel that I made the right call in stepping down, for several reasons,” adding that she “did not want to be a liability to my colleagues.”
“We knew from the people who had the photos, that had obtained the photos, that there were hundreds more images and text messages that were out there, that I had no idea what they could be,” she continued.
Former Rep. Katie Hill breaks silence months after resigning from Congress in one-on-one with @ABC News’ @GStephanopoulos: “I made the right call.” https://t.co/Nkaau0xBSI pic.twitter.com/MJqSOwAFzg
— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2020
Hill also called the attacks against her “bi-phobic” and chalked up some of the heat she faced as a result of her being both bisexual and a woman, saying, “The bisexuality was a huge part of it.”
“If the ultimate outcome was that this destroyed me, and I committed suicide, then what does that, what does that tell them?” Hill said when she was asked how she got through the controversy. “And that can’t — that couldn’t be my final story.”
The former congresswoman also said that her biggest mistake was not setting boundaries on her campaign trail.
