On Tuesday, U.S. Representative Nancy Mace showed what she described as a naked silhouette of herself during a House hearing.
She said the image was secretly taken by her former fiancé without her consent.
Mace made the statement while urging lawmakers to support legislation prohibiting video voyeurism.
Rep. Nancy Mace showed a naked silhouette of herself, allegedly taken without her consent by her ex-fiancé
Highlights
- Rep. Nancy Mace showed a naked silhouette of herself secretly taken by her ex-fiancé without her consent during a House hearing.
- Mace urged lawmakers to support legislation banning video voyeurism to protect victims of non-consensual recording.
- She accused her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant of sexual abuse, rape, and voyeurism, based on more than 10,000 videos and photos she found on his phone.
- Bryant denied all accusations, calling them false, malicious, and deeply personal.
Image credits: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“[This] is my naked body,” Mace said as she pointed to a yellow circle around a naked silhouette on a black-and-white photo behind her.
“I didn’t know that I had been filmed. I didn’t give my consent. I didn’t give my permission.”
The photo appeared to be a still from a home security camera. Mace said she found the footage herself and believes it was taken by her ex-fiancé, Charleston tech businessman Patrick Bryant.
She claimed the images came from more than 10,000 videos and photos she found on Bryant’s phone.
According to Mace, the material shows acts of rape, voyeurism, and other sexual abuse. The list of women also included underage girls.
Bryant has denied all the allegations. In a statement, he said: “I categorically deny the false and outrageous claims made by Nancy Mace. 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.”
She urged lawmakers to support legislation prohibiting video voyeurism
Image credits: AFpost
The moment took place during a House Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee hearing. Mace, the chair, titled it ‘Breach of Trust: Surveillance in Private Spaces.’
Mace used the platform to raise awareness about non-consensual recording and sexual violence.
“I speak not only as a lawmaker but as a survivor,” she said.
Mace also showed other censored images, which she said were of women filmed without their consent.
In February, she had accused Bryant and three other men of crimes ranging from rape to trafficking.
During a lengthy House floor speech, she said she had reported the abuse to South Carolina’s attorney general but did not see any action.
In February, Mace accused Bryant and three other men of rape and trafficking
Image credits: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Mace said she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable.”
She added: “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,” back in November 2023.
She also accused the state’s prosecutor, Alan Wilson, of ignoring her evidence.
Wilson will be Mace’s opponent if she runs for governor of South Carolina in 2026, which she is considering.
Bryant criticized Mace for making the accusations while on the House floor and during committee hearings. He claimed she was using her position to shield herself from legal consequences.
“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,” he said.
Image credits: RepNancyMace
Mace, 47, is a rising Republican figure who has served in Congress since 2020. She made history as the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina’s military college.
In 2019, she revealed she was a survivor of rape that occurred more than 20 years earlier. Since then, she has often spoken out in support of survivors of abuse.
On Tuesday, she said that she would “run through a brick wall to protect women and girls in South Carolina and to other potential victims.”
A survivor of sexual violence herself, Mace has been fighting to protect other victims of abuse
Image credits: RepNancyMace
“Freedom is not a theory. It is the right to breathe. It is the right to dress and undress, to sleep without someone’s camera filming your naked body. The Founders wrote liberty in parchment, but hidden cameras erase it in pixels,” she said.
The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is investigating Mace’s allegations against Bryant, who says he has “fully cooperated” with the investigation.