- The Washington Times - Thursday, October 24, 2019

Rep. Katie Hill received a surprising show of support from across the aisle as fellow Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed the ethics investigation of her alleged affair with a staffer as “absurd.”

The Florida Republican blamed the situation on Ms. Hill’s husband, whom she is currently divorcing.

“Who among us would look perfect is every ex leaked every photo/text?” Mr. Gaetz tweeted Thursday. “Katie isn’t being investigated by Ethics or maligned because she hurt anyone — it is because she is different.”

“I serve on Armed Services with Katie and while we frequently disagree on substance, she is always well-prepared, focused and thoughtful,” he added.

The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation Wednesday into the allegations against the California Democrat, who is bisexual.

The announcement came after RedState, a conservative website, published text messages they claim were from a female campaign staffer and photos of Ms. Hill as they reported she was in a “throuple” during her run for office. According to the story, her husband was fine with the arrangement until he learned that Ms. Hill also was involved with a male staffer in her Congressional office.

Having an affair with an employee would violate House rules.

Ms. Hill has denied the affair and blamed her husband, who she said was abusive, for the allegations.

The freshman lawmaker said she asked Capitol Police to look into how photos of her, including a censored nude picture published by RedState, were leaked.

Stephen Dinan contributed to this story.

• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.

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