'Former staff' claim abuse by ex-Rep. Hill in Twitter hack
FILE ART - US Rep. Katie Hill
LOS ANGELES - An old government Twitter account for former California U.S. Rep. Katie Hill was hacked Wednesday, purportedly by “former staff” who criticized a planned movie about her life and accused Hill of workplace abuse.
The California Democrat, who resigned in 2019 amid a House ethics probe into allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of her congressional staffers, said she does not know who hijacked the account she used while in office.
In a statement on Twitter, Hill said she returned control of the account to the House Clerk when she resigned, including password changes and access restrictions.
“Regardless of their author, the content of the hacked tweets is something I have talked about at length ... regarding my decision to resign, as well as the constant work and reflection I’ve done since then.”
“I look forward to continuing to have conversations around these issues and using my platform to support women,” she added, saying she reported the invaded account to Twitter.
The hack came a day after the announcement that actress Elisabeth Moss will star as the former lawmaker in a movie adaptation of Hill’s memoir.
The anonymous tweets said Hill had not been held accountable and is “not a hero.”
“Katie Hill took advantage of her subordinates,” one tweet said. “She caused immense harm to the people who worked for her, many of whom were young women.”
Hill, once a risking Democratic star who was hand-picked for a coveted House leadership post, resigned in October 2019 after compromising photos of her with a campaign staffer surfaced online. Hill later said the explicit, private photos had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives.
Hill, one of the few openly bisexual women in Congress, apologized to friends and supporters for engaging in an affair with a female campaign staffer, and the House ethics committee launched an investigation into whether Hill had an inappropriate relationship with an aide in her congressional office, which is prohibited under House rules.
The fresh publicity about the scandal will have Democrats cringing in her former swing district north of Los Angeles, where Democratic state legislator Christy Smith is in a tight race for the 25th District seat with Republican Rep. Mike Garcia.
When Hill captured the seat in a 2018 upset, it was the last Republican-held House seat anchored in Los Angeles County. Garcia recaptured it in a May special election in which he promised to restore “decency and integrity” to the office, an obvious reference to the Hill saga.