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Abstract: 

In 2018, the House of Representatives passed a new ethics rule, in response to high-profile sexual harassment claims involving members of Congress, that explicitly prohibited members from engaging in any sexual relationship with an employee, broadly defined. The first member to be investigated for a violation of this rule was a young, dynamic, bisexual female freshman whose consensual sexual relationship with a staffer was revealed in photos published by the Daily Mail (U.K.) in late 2019. The photos of Congressional Representative Katie Hill were sent to news outlets by her then-husband during a hostile divorce proceeding, following Hill’s decision to move to Washington to better focus on her new position. This article examines Ms. Hill’s actions before and after her husband released explicit photos to a conservative news site, and compares her case with a number of other Congressman who have avoided consequences after incidents as or more serious than the charges faced by Hill.

Keywords: House Ethics Rules; Harassment

Affiliations:  1: Editor.