Quote:Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina on Monday used a nearly hour-long speech on the U.S. House floor to accuse her ex-fiancé of physically abusing her, recording sex acts with her and others without their consent, and conspiring with business associates in acts of rape and sexual misconduct.

[...]

Saying she was going “scorched earth,” Mace detailed how, in November 2023, she says she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable. We’re talking about rape, non-consensual photos, non-consensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”

Quote:Mace, a former South Carolina state House member, was the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, the state’s military college, where her father then served as commandant of cadets. Briefly serving in the state House, in 2020 she became the first Republican woman elected to represent South Carolina in Congress, flipping the 1st District after a single term with a Democratic representative.

Quote:In 2019, Mace spoke publicly for the first time about a sexual assault she said had occurred more than two decades earlier, addressing South Carolina legislative colleagues in advocating for adding a rape and incest exception to a state House ban on all abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat.

On Monday, Mace said she was joined in the House gallery by several women she said had been victimized by Bryant and the other men. Among the Republican lawmakers who sat behind Mace during her speech to show their support were Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.

“Nancy Mace is our friend and we wanted to support her and give her the encouragement she needed to get that message out,” Boebert said.