#Katie Hill talks friendship with Matt Gaetz, allegations

Former “throuple” Rep. Katie Hill is calling on former friend and colleague Rep. Matt Gaetz to be “held responsible” if “there is even a fraction of truth” to reports of sexual misconduct — despite him defending the former pol while she was roiled in a scandal involving sleeping with her subordinate.

Hill recalled in an op-ed Monday in Vanity Fair the unlikely bond that formed between herself and Gaetz, who is in the fight of his political life following accusations he showed lawmakers pictures and videos of nude women he claimed to have slept with and an alleged extortion plot.

The first-term California Democrat, 33, said she met the second-term Florida Republican, 38, when she replaced him as the youngest member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The panel, as Hill pointed out, is known for being one of the last truly bipartisan committees remaining in Congress.

In addition to their time spent together on committee, the two grew close in Fox News greenrooms, as both regularly appeared on the network.

Months later, when Hill faced intense scrutiny over having a three-way relationship with her then-husband and a female staffer, and nude photos of her began to leak, Gaetz came to her defense.

“The silence from my own Democratic colleagues was deafening. I was devastated, though I understood. People were nervous. And no one wants to defend an abuser,” the former lawmaker explained.

“Then, suddenly, the golden boy of Fox spoke up for me. Matt was the first member of Congress who publicly and unapologetically defended me, saying that while I might have made mistakes, I was a victim in this circumstance.”

The unlikely friends stayed in contact well after Hill resigned in October 2019, she wrote, texting occasionally until after the 2020 presidential election, when Gaetz supported contesting the results and questioning the outcome.

“When Matt doubled down after the January 6 insurrection, I questioned how I could have ever considered us friends. But in difficult times, sometimes the unlikeliest people support you,” she wrote.

Hill then pivoted to the allegations currently facing Gaetz.

“If, despite his denials, Matt Gaetz did have sex with a minor, if he did provide girls and young women with drugs and money and gifts in exchange for sex, if he did ask these girls and young women to recruit other women for the same purpose, and if he did show his colleagues images of nude women without their consent, he needs to be held responsible,” she said, though not specifying what that would entail.

“Some of these actions are criminal and some of them should be,” she continued. “All are morally reprehensible and unacceptable for a lawmaker.”

“If there is even a fraction of truth to these reports, he should resign immediately.”

A spokesperson for Gaetz could not immediately be reached by The Post for comment on Hill’s op-ed.

Gaetz has denied any allegations of sexual misconduct. In a defiant op-ed in the Washington Examiner Monday, the embattled lawmaker said he was “absolutely not resigning” as he blamed the scandal on “political opponents.”