Katie Hill, a former representative of the “group”, calls on former friend and fellow representative Matt Gaetz to be “responsible” if “there is even a fraction of truth” in the face of allegations of misconduct sexual, though she defended the former police officer while she was scalded in a sleep-related scandal with her subordinate.
Hill recalled on Monday at Vanity Fair the view of the unlikely bond that was formed between her and Gaetz, who is in the fight for her political life following allegations that she showed lawmakers photographs and videos of naked women. with which he claimed to have slept and a plot of extortion.
The 33-year-old California Democrat said she met the 38-year-old Florida Republican when she replaced him as the youngest member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The group, as Hill pointed out, is known to be one of the last truly bipartisan committees left in Congress.
In addition to the time they spent together on the committee, the two approached Fox News’s greenhouse rooms, as they both appeared regularly on the network.
Months later, when Hill faced an intense scrutiny for having a three-way relationship with her husband and a female employee, and nude photos began to leak, Gaetz defended her.
“The silence of my own fellow Democrats was deafening. I was devastated, even though I understood. People were nervous. And no one wants to defend an aggressor “, explained the former director.
“Then all of a sudden, Fox’s golden boy spoke for me. Matt was the first member of Congress to defend me publicly and without apology, saying that while I could have made mistakes, I was a victim in that circumstance. “
Unlikely friends kept in touch after Hill resigned in October 2019, he wrote, occasionally texting until after the 2020 presidential election, when Gaetz backed to answer the results and question the outcome. .
“When Matt doubled down after the Jan. 6 uprising, I wondered how I could have ever considered myself friends. But in difficult times, sometimes the most unlikely people support you,” he wrote.
Hill devoted himself to the accusations Gaetz is currently facing.
“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 he asked these girls and young women to recruit other women for the same purpose, and if he showed his colleagues images of naked women without their consent, he should be responsible, ”he said, although he did not specify what it would imply.
“Some of these actions are criminal and some of them should be,” he continued. “They are all morally reprehensible and unacceptable to a legislator.”
“If there is even a fraction of truth in these reports, he should resign immediately.”
The Post was unable to immediately contact a Gaetz spokesman to comment on Hill’s opinion.
Gaetz has denied any allegations of sexual misconduct. In a defiant opinion to the Washington Examiner on Monday, the opposing lawmaker said he “absolutely does not resign,” as he blamed the scandal on “political opponents.”