Former California congresswoman Katie Hill, who was ordered to pay attorneys’ fees to a British tabloid and two conservative journalists she sued after the publication of intimate photos without her consent, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
If successful, the move could allow Hill to avoid paying about $220,000 in fees to the defendants, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
The Democrat who briefly represented a district north of Los Angeles had accused multiple parties in a revenge-porn lawsuit of violating the law by publishing or distributing the compromising photos. The lawsuit was thrown out and a judge later rendered the financial judgments.
Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hill, 34, abruptly stepped aside in 2019 amid allegations of inappropriate relationships and leaks of hacked nude photos (Hill has acknowledged a relationship with a then-campaign staffer but denied doing so with a congressional employee, which would be a violation of House rules).
She gained national attention in 2018 when she was elected to Congress in a district long under Republican control. She was celebrated as the face of millennial change and was close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow California Democrat.
