Katie Hill Blasts Double Standards in Final Speech

Brut America

Rep. Katie Hill had strong final words about the scandal surrounding her resignation after the House voted on ground rules for its impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Transcript

00:00The forces of revenge by a bitter, jealous man,

00:03cyber exploitation, and sexual shaming that target our gender,

00:07and a large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women,

00:11have combined to push a young woman out of power and say that she doesn't belong here.

00:17Yet a man who brags about his sexual predation,

00:20who's had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault,

00:25who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women,

00:28and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women

00:32of the most fundamental right to control their own bodies,

00:35sits in the highest office of the land.

00:38I will never shirk my responsibility for this sudden ending to my time here.

00:55But I have to say more because this is bigger than me.

00:59I am leaving now because of a double standard.

01:02I'm leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip.

01:06I'm leaving because I didn't want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites,

01:11used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest gutter politics that I've ever seen,

01:15and the right-wing media to drive clicks and expand their audience by distributing

01:20intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge,

01:23let alone my consent for the sexual entertainment of millions.

01:27I'm leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures,

01:33capitalized on my sexuality,

01:35and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse,

01:38this time with the entire country watching.

01:40I am leaving because of the thousands of vile threatening emails, calls,

01:45and texts that made me fear for my life and the lives of the people that I care about.

01:50Today is the first time I've left my apartment since the photos,

01:54taken without my consent,

01:56were released and I'm scared.

01:58I'm leaving because for the sake of my community,

02:01my staff, my family,

02:03and myself, I can't allow this to continue.

02:07Because I've been told that people were angry when I stood

02:10strong after the first article was posted,

02:12and that they had hundreds more photos and text messages that they would release

02:16bit by bit until they broke me down to nothing.

02:19Well, they used my faults and my past to distract from the things that matter most.

02:25I'm leaving because there is only one investigation

02:28that deserves the attention of this country,

02:30and that's the one that we voted on today.

02:33Today, I ask you all to stand with me and commit to creating

02:37a future where this no longer happens to women and girls.

02:41Yes, I'm stepping down,

02:43but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks,

02:48who dare to step into this light,

02:50who dare to be powerful.

02:52It might feel like they won in the short-term,

02:54but they can't in the long-term.

02:56We cannot let them.

02:58The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up,

03:01to keep running for office,

03:03to keep stepping up as leaders,

03:05because the more we show up,

03:07the less power they have.

03:09I'm leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of

03:14intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms,

03:19on the Supreme Court,

03:20in this very body,

03:22and worst of all, in the Oval Office.

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