Hill resigned after reports of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member surfaced.
The congresswoman made her final speech on Thursday, lashing out at the right-wing media and President Trump.
She denies having an improper relationship with a member of her congressional staff but admits she had an inappropriate relationship with a campaign staffer before taking office.
Private photos of her and the staffer were leaked online by a conservative blog.
Hill soon admitted to the relationship, calling it “inappropriate.”
In Thursday’s speech, Hill apologized to her constituents. She said, “To those who felt like I gave them hope in one of the darkest times in our nation’s history, I’m sorry. To my family, my friends, my staff, my colleagues, my mentors, to everyone who has supported and believed in me. I’m sorry.”
She also called out a double standard in politics. “I am leaving now because of a double standard. I am leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip.”
Hill then slammed conservative media. “Used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest gutter politics that I’ve ever seen, and the right-wing media to drive clicks and expand their audience by distributing intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge, let alone my consent, for the sexual entertainment of millions.”
Hill said she was driven to step down by online threats causing her to fear for her life and the lives of those she cared about.
She said, “Today is the first time I’ve left my apartment since the photos, taken without my consent, were released. And I’m scared.”
The first-term congresswoman also called out President Trump, saying, “Yet a man who brags about his sexual predation, who has had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the most fundamental right to control their own bodies, sits in the highest office of the land.”
In a video released Monday, Hill said she will work against revenge porn, encouraging other young female politicians not to be scared away by what happened to her.
“I will also take up a new fight,” she said. “I will fight to make sure no one else has to live through what I just experienced.”
She ended her speech by announcing her final vote in Congress. “Today as my final act, I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America”
Congresswoman Hill made it clear she’s stepping down, but not going away.
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