WASHINGTON - A former Capitol Hill aide's titillating weblog, which got her fired from a powerful Senate Republican's staff and a six-figure book deal last year, has been sued by the senator's staff counsel over her discussions of their sexual relationship on the blog. Robert Steinbuch, counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee member Michael DeWine (R-Ohio), sued Jessica Cutler May 16, alleging invasion of privacy despite his name not being mentioned in the weblog Cutler kept in 2004.
The blog, written under the name Washingtonienne, was said to have described sexual relationships with six men in Washington—including an unnamed married Bush administration staffer whom she described as meeting her in hotel rooms and giving her envelopes of cash.
A court filing in the case indicated that Steinbuch claimed Cutler using the initials "RS," first name, and certain other details made him "clearly identifiable."
"Cutler . . . identified [Steinbuch] in her public blog through his religion, Jewish; his job, Committee Counsel to the [Senate Judiciary Committee]; his place of residence, Bethesda; the fact that he has a twin; his general appearance; and details of Cutler's intimate relationship with [Steinbuch] that Cutler had previously disclosed to colleagues and co-workers," the filing said.
Her "outrageous actions, setting before anyone in the world with access to the Internet intimate and private facts regarding [the plaintiff], constituted a gross invasion of his privacy," according to the filing. The widespread public dissemination of private facts ha[s] caused [Steinbuch] to suffer severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, and anguish."
Cutler was dismissed from DeWine's staff after details about her blog became public knowledge last August. She signed a six-figure book deal and posed for Playboy.
Cutler learned how famous she was becoming when a girlfriend working on the House side called her at DeWine's office mentioning that a widely read site known as Wonkette had picked up on her blog, according to published reports, which quoted her as saying she launched her blog mostly to amuse herself and her closest girlfriends.
She reportedly deleted her blog after that office phone call hoping it would disappear into oblivion, but the blog was discovered by DeWine staff and, according to published reports, she was fired on her birthday. The official reason was reportedly computer misuse. Cutler has never publicly identified the men about whom she wrote.