Rep. Katie Porter’s university housing deal draws scrutiny

By BRIAN SLODYSKO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In Orange County, California, the typical house sells for $1 million. That makes congresswoman Katie Porter’s four-bedroom, three-bath residence in a leafy subdivision on the University of California Irvine campus a bargain. The progressive Democrat and law professor purchased it in 2011 for $523,000, a below-market price secured through a program the university uses to lure academics who couldn’t otherwise afford to live there. The only eligibility requirement was that Porter continue working for the school. Nearly four years after she took unpaid leave to serve in the U.S. House, she still gets the housing deal even though her return to campus remains in doubt.