Freshman Democratic Congresswoman Katie Hill is, to put it charitably, a mess. She and her husband entered into a three-way relationship with a young campaign staffer, whom Hill subsequently dumped. She then, according to her husband, began an affair with another employee, this time a man. Hill drinks heavily, to the point where she repeatedly has missed flights, and has mental health issues. When these matters became public, evidently based on photos and text messages provided by either the female staffer or the husband, Hill resigned from Congress.

It is not a pretty story, but NBC News does its best to run interference for Hill and the Democratic Party. NBC’s story conceals more than it reports, and casts the predatory Hill as a victim:

Freshman Rep. Katie Hill is resigning amid an ethics investigation over an allegedly inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

Hill has admitted the three-way relationship with the female campaign staffer, so there is nothing “allegedly” about it.

In a letter posted on Twitter, the Southern California Democrat attributed the resignation to an “abusive” estranged husband and “hateful political operatives” who she said were “driving a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation.”

NBC basically adopts Hill’s desperate self-justification as reality. What follows is a classic of obfuscation:

The House Ethics Committee investigation of Hill came amid unconfirmed allegations about her personal life reported by conservative site Red State, which along with the Daily Mail published nude photos of the congresswoman without her consent.

The nude photo published by Red State showed a naked Congresswoman Hill, with her breasts blurred, brushing her female staffer’s hair. They also published a photo of the two kissing. Red State had explicit photos of Hill, too, but did not publish those. NBC’s assertion that Red State’s allegations are “unconfirmed” is ridiculous. They are confirmed, among other things, by the photo of the naked Hill with her staffer, the photo of Hill kissing her staffer, and by unequivocal text messages exchanged between the two.

NBC buys Hill’s claim that she is a victim, without even mentioning the fact that she and her husband entered into a three-way relationship with the much younger campaign staffer. Nor is there any mention of Hill’s heavy drinking, irresponsible behavior while drunk, the photo of her with a bong, and so on:

Hill, who was elected last year, described the images as an “illegal” and “appalling invasion of privacy” that had been “weaponized” against her. “We are currently pursuing all of our available legal options,” she said. “However, I know that as long as I am in Congress, we’ll live fearful of what might come next.” She added that she could no longer allow friends and supporters to “suffer this unprecedented brand of cruelty.”

So Katie Hill rides off into the sunset as the blameless victim of a “conservative site.” Some, on the other hand, would say that the “unprecedented brand of cruelty” in this story was displayed by Hill herself toward her female staffer. But maybe that is a hopelessly old-fashioned view. In any event, it certainly is not the perspective of NBC News, operating in full cover-up mode.

STEVE adds: This story gives a whole new meaning to the old phrase, “Going after the swing vote.”

I’ll show myself out.