Katie Hill: Matt Gaetz should resign if he engaged in the very practice he defended me from

In an op-ed published at Vanity Fair this Monday, former California Democratic congresswoman Katie Hill talked about the "unlikely friendship" she formed with Matt Gaetz during her time in Congress, saying that "he was one of the few colleagues who spoke out after a malicious nude-photo leak upended my life."

But she made clear that if the recent reports detailing how he shared nude photos of women he allegedly slept with to fellow lawmakers are true, he should resign.

"People across the world were seeing images of my naked body, many of which I hadn't known were taken and none of which I had consented to share," she wrote, referring to nude photos of her that were published by a British tabloid against her consent.

"I was the victim of nonconsensual pornography, also known as intimate-image abuse or revenge porn. But the photos also showed that I'd had a relationship with someone who had worked on my campaign," she continued. "A relationship that was inappropriate, though not illegal, and that I never should have engaged in and never would have outside the context of an unusually close-knit campaign and a crumbling marriage. I was labeled an abuser by many, which was especially hard to take as someone who has been abused herself."

According to Hill, her friendship with Gaetz grew distant as the Trump presidency progressed and Gaetz continued his devotion to Trumpism, even after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

"Now disturbing information has come out that the Justice Department is investigating Matt's alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl, possible sex trafficking, and more. Matt has denied the accusations. As the press requests started coming in, I ignored them (as usual) and hoped that the investigation would ultimately clear him," Hill writes. "But then CNN reported that Matt had shown at least two lawmakers photos and videos of naked women. The women on his phone likely had no idea that the nude photos and videos they'd either privately shared or that he'd taken (with or without their consent) were being passed around and ogled by Republican congressmen. If true, Matt had engaged in the very practice he'd defended me from."

Read the full op-ed over at Vanity Fair.