The California congresswoman's fall isn't about sex — or sexuality — but the abuse of power. The term “abuse of power” gets tossed about in Washington with growing frequency these days, but in the case of Katie Hill, it’s a label fitting for just about everyone involved. It applies to how the 32-year-old freshman congresswoman, who announced her resignation Sunday, treated subordinates in her (admitted) sexual relationship with a campaign staffer and her (alleged but denied) relationship with an official staffer. It applies to whoever leaked explicit photos of Hill — she’s pointed the finger at her husband, Kenny Heslep, whom she’s in the process of divorcing. And to the media outlets like the British tabloid Daily Mail that published leaked nude photos for the world to see. For the first member of Congress to be tripped up by new rules put into place for the #MeToo era, there’s abuse as far as the eye can see. |