Rep. Nancy Mace presented a nude photograph of herself to Congress on Wednesday that she said had been taken without her consent as she revived allegations of sexual abuse against her former fiancé and three other men.
Mace, 47, presented the blurry “naked silhouette” during a hearing for the House Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation Subcommittee, which she chairs, on the subject of “Breach of Trust: Surveillance in Private Spaces.”
The image was just one of several censored images of naked women the congresswoman presented that she claimed had been retrieved from private recordings belonging to Charleston tech entrepreneur Patrick Bryant, to whom she was engaged between 2022 and 2023. Bryant and the other men accused have denied any wrongdoing.
“I would run through a brick wall to protect women and girls in South Carolina and to other potential victims,” Mace said during her address. “I want you to know I have your back.”
The episode followed the shocking speech the same representative delivered to the House of Representatives in February, in which she accused Bryant and three accomplices of engaging in sex crimes against her and other women.
Mace spoke for almost an hour on that occasion and claimed that, in November 2023, she had discovered a digital cache of more than 10,000 videos and photos that showed Bryant and his associates abusing numerous women, including herself.
Bryant has vehemently denied Mace’s negotiations and reiterated his denials on Tuesday, saying in a statement: “I have never raped anyone. I have never hidden cameras. I have never harmed any woman. These accusations are not just false – they are malicious and deeply personal.
“Nancy Mace made these claims only while standing in Congress, purportedly shielded by legal immunity. If she believed them to be true and there was evidence to support her accusations, she would say them outside the chamber – away from her public role and protections and pursue them through proper legal channels. She has not done so, because she cannot.”
Mace has since been sued for defamation by one of the men she accused in that speech. In turn, she brought a lawsuit of her own against another, alleging he had “repeatedly and maliciously defamed” her on social media.
A lawyer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina told a court earlier this month that he would be representing Mace in the first suit, which suggests she is likely to employ a defense arguing that her comments were protected under congressional privilege, a legal shield to safeguard free speech in the House and Senate.
Mace concluded her remarks to the subcommittee on Tuesday by batting aside the legal threats against her, declaring: “Bring it on, brother, because there is no defamation in the truth. And if you’re going to be the kind of moron and monster that sues his own victims, may God help you.”
