U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) on Tuesday filed a temporary restraining order against an ex-boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court documents that he bombarded her, as well as her family and coworkers, with hundreds of messages she described. as ‘ongoing abuse and harassment’.
Porter, 50, alleged in a filing in Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, contacted her and her family so frequently that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.” . .”
Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday that prohibits Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until the mid-December hearing. He also banned Willis from communicating with her current and former colleagues about Porter.
In the lawsuit, Porter said Willis had been hospitalized twice for involuntary psychiatric hold since late 2022 and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other medications.
She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and battle with addiction appeared to have worsened since she asked him to move out of her Irvine home in August. She said she sought the injunction after his threats against her family and colleagues “escalated in both frequency and intensity.”
“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.
Willis declined to comment. He will have the opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.
Porter will leave the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in California’s 2026 gubernatorial race after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s unenrollment, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.
The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications between Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and sent to her. political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The files also include messages between herself and Willis’ siblings, discussing how they tried to help him during his psychiatric arrests and while he was in a sober facility.
Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move, he had sent her more than a thousand text messages and emails, including 82 texts in a 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on November 12 before they were number blocked.
Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend “had already contacted at least three reporters to spread false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious health risk.” [her] career and personal reputation.”
The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he visited Porter’s son in college in Iowa and told him he would “put the hammer down on Katie and take her and would crush her life in one fell swoop. million pieces.”
Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with Child Protective Services.
One of Porter’s congressional staffers received a text message from Willis saying he would punish him “the f—” if he didn’t “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ lawyers, according to a screenshot in the court document.
Willis previously made headlines in 2021 when he was arrested after a fight broke out at a Porter community hall at a park in Irvine.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
