Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, was granted a temporary restraining order this week against an ex-boyfriend she contends subjected her to "persistent abuse and harassment" that put her in fear for her safety.
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The order approved by a judge Tuesday bars Julian Willis from having any contact with Porter or her children or colleagues, while also requiring him to physically stay away from her.
In papers filed in Orange County Superior Court and obtained by Politico, Porter, 50, alleged that Willis has sent her hundreds of emails over the past three months, including some in which she claims he threatened to go public with false allegations about her, and to call child protection officials in an effort to have her children taken away.
She contended in the court documents that Willis has a history of substance abuse and mental health issues.
Willis, 55, told Politico on Tuesday that Porter filed for the restraining order in effort to prevent him from suing her and seeking court protection from her, accusing her of aggressive and "violent" behavior toward him and her own children at UC Irvine in August.
"This is her way of combatting all that," Willis told Politico, later referring to Porter as "a monster."
Porter ran unsuccessfully this year for the U.S. Senate seat previously occupied by the late Dianne Feinstein. She will leave Congress at the end of her current term and is expected to return to UC Irvine as a law professor in January.
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