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Katie Hill's Last Act: Impeach Trump on Behalf of Women, LGBTQ People

Katie Hill

The bisexual representative resigned this week in the wake of cyber exploitation against her, but she delivered a blow to accused predator Trump on her way out. 

California Democratic Rep. Katie Hill resigned from office earlier this week in the wake of a cyber exploitation campaign led by right-wing media, revelations that she had engaged in a relationship with a campaign staffer, and accusations of an affair with a congressional staffer. As her final act in office, the only bisexual member of the U.S. House of Representatives delivered a powerful speech about institutionalized misogyny and voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump.

"Today, as my final act, I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America. We will not stand down," Hill said Thursday, according to Politico.

Earlier this week, Hill released a video in which she called the release of hundreds of nude photos of her a "coordinated attack" by her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep, and right-wing media.

The freshman representative resigned amid a sex scandal that began with the leak of nude photos and allegations of a consensual relationship with the female campaign staffer and of an affair with a male member of her congressional staff, Graham Kelly.

During her speech on the floor of the House today, she apologized to those she let down.

"I, like so many of my colleagues, ran for office because I believed that our political system was broken, controlled by the powerful and the wealthy ignoring and failing the regular people that it's supposed to serve.

"I came here to give a voice to the unheard in the halls of power. I wanted to show young people, queer people, working people, imperfect people, that they belong here because this is the people's house. I fell short of that and I'm sorry," Hill said.

She also called out misogyny and a double standard for men in power.

"I'm leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality, and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching," she continued.

"I'm leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, in this very body, and worst of all, in the Oval Office."

"The forces of revenge by a bitter, jealous man, cyber exploitation, and sexual shaming that target our gender and a large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women have combined to push a young woman out of power and say that she doesn't belong here," Hill continued.

"Yet a man who brags about his sexual predation, whose had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women, and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the most fundamental right to control their own bodies sits in the highest office in the land."

Hill, who vowed to continue to fight for women and girls, said she was resigning because she did not want to be used as a "bargaining chip" in an ongoing investigation of her actions.

"There's only one investigation that deserves the attention of this country and that's the one that we vote on today," she said.

Watch Hill's remarks below:

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