Idaho lawmaker defends sharing identity of rape accuser on social media and in newsletter

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R).
(Image credit: AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi, File)

Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R) told the legislature's ethics committee on Monday that she doesn't think she was wrong to share an article on social media and in a newsletter to constituents that named a young woman who accused a lawmaker of rape.

After the young woman, an intern at the statehouse, made the rape allegation against former state Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger (R), the ethics committee found he engaged in "conduct unbecoming" a lawmaker. Von Ehlinger, who said he had consensual sex with the intern, resigned. The allegation was made public in April, and not long after Giddings posted and shared an article from a right-wing website that included the accuser's name, photo, and details about her personal life, The Associated Press reports. The woman said after her identity was revealed, strangers started harassing her.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.