The White House News

An Oregon Democratic congressional candidate is embracing her past and looking to “reclaim her sexuality” after a clip of her working at a Manhattan BDSM dungeon was leaked online earlier this year.

Prior to being exposed for her past work in her 20s and 30s, Courtney Casgraux, a 41-year-old self-described international businesswoman who is seeking to represent Oregon’s 1st Congressional District in the House, worked as a dominatrix and charged clients an estimated $500 per hour.

In an interview with the New York Post, Casgraux discussed how she felt when the video was released and how she’s using the incident to empower her campaign for Congress.

“[I was] just panicking. . . . Then I was like, ‘Who did this?’ and I just started calling every single person that I pretty much knew from my past. . . . I was like hyperventilating, crying,” Casgraux, the single mother of a teenage son, recalled of how she felt when she found out about the video.

PARENTS, KIDS SIDELINED AS PORTLAND TEACHERS’ UNION, DISTRICT REMAIN GRIDLOCKED AMID STRIKE: ‘SETTING US BACK’

A native of California, Casgraux returned to the BDSM industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, this time working at Donatella’s Dungeon — an S&M club located in Midtown Manhattan, according to the Post.

Though she was never able to identify who was responsible for leaking the video, Casgraux told the outlet she believes someone was attempting to “shame” her.

“To shame me for something that helped create the life that I have today where I have opportunity . . . made me really mad. Because it felt like an attack on women, not just an attack on me,” Casgraux said.

Despite the incident that rattled Casgraux, she is now attempting to win a seat in the House that’s currently held by Democrat Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, who’s seeking re-election to her post. Casgraux’s campaign has reportedly focused on abortion rights and reversing the decriminalization of certain drugs in Oregon.

OREGON MOMS UNION SLAMS REMOVAL OF STANDARDIZED TEST FROM HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENT: ‘NOT SURPRISING’

Casgraux, who the outlet reported is looking to use the “outing” in an effort to “reclaim her sexuality,” recently created a Playboy profile where she can sell risqué pictures of herself for up to $150 each.

Through the Playboy profile, Casgraux, who doesn’t receive compensation from Playboy, posts other material, such as an explanation of how Article 2 of the Constitution grants presidential powers and impeachment, as well as her views on challenges faced by American farms, according to the report.

“Once [the video] came out and I got the Playboy page, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I can just be me.’ And I could say the things that I wanna say, and I can be funny and be tongue in cheek with things, and reclaim my sexuality,” she said of the experience thus far.

The Post reported that Casgraux’s campaign has only raised $757 from a total of 13 donors so far, but her persistence in the race remains.

Casgraux explained that her campaign, which was launched in June, is about more than winning a seat in Congress.

“If I can win, that’s incredible — let’s go to Washington . . . and we’ll make amazing legislation,” she told the outlet. “But there’s no losing if I can make one woman feel like there’s no shame in your past and what you have done. . . . You too can run for Congress.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Casgraux, but did not receive an immediate response.

President Biden on Saturday called for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East, but one that is “free from Hamas” as he put forward his plan for peace in the region in the wake of the Hamas terror attack against Israel.

“The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own and a future free from Hamas,” he said.

Biden used the op-ed in The Washington Post to argue that the world faces “an inflection point” in the Middle East, and stressed that the U.S. stands with Israel in the face of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists.

BIDEN SAYS ISRAEL WILL STOP FIGHTING IN GAZA WHEN HAMAS ‘NO LONGER MAINTAINS THE CAPACITY TO MURDER’

But he also said he was “heartbroken” by the images out of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli military response as it seeks to wipe out Hamas. Biden said the goal should now be to “break the cycle of unceasing violence.” 

“This much is clear: A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. Though right now it may seem like that future has never been further away, this crisis has made it more imperative than ever,” he said.

“A two-state solution — two peoples living side by side with equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity — is where the road to peace must lead. Reaching it will take commitments from Israelis and Palestinians, as well as from the United States and our allies and partners,” he said. “That work must start now.”

He says that in order to achieve that, there must be certain principles as a foundation — including that Gaza cannot be used as a platform for terrorism, there can be no forcible displacement, no “reoccupation” or blockade and no reduction in the territory.

“As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution,” he said. “I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank.”

PRO-PALESTINIAN VIOLENT PROTEST ERUPTS OUTSIDE DNC HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON DC, CAPITOL POLICE INJURED

In the meantime, Biden rejected the idea of a cease-fire, saying that to Hamas “every cease-fire is time they exploit to rebuild their stockpile of rockets, reposition fighters and restart the killing by attacking innocents again.”

“An outcome that leaves Hamas in control of Gaza would once more perpetuate its hate and deny Palestinian civilians the chance to build something better for themselves,” he said.

Biden has been facing pressure from the left of his party for his pro-Israel support, with a number of Democrats demanding calls for a cease-fire. 

Biden on Wednesday, however, said that Israel’s military operation in Gaza will stop when Hamas “no longer maintains the capacity to murder, abuse, and do horrific things to the Israelis.”