US House ethics panel to probe sex allegations against Texas Republican Gonzales

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. House Ethics Committee has opened an inquiry into Representative Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican embroiled in allegations that he engaged in a sexual affair and favoritism with a former staffer who later took her own life, the panel said on Wednesday.

Gonzales, who has acknowledged a "mistake" and "lapse in judgment," also faces a possible legislative rebuke from fellow Republican Anna Paulina Luna, a hardline conservative who filed measures on Wednesday to censure him and strip him of his committee assignments.

The actions came as Gonzales, 45, is forced into a Texas primary runoff set for May against Republican challenger Brandon Herrera, a gun rights advocate and YouTube influencer endorsed by the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Gonzales, a three-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from a sprawling Texas border district, was endorsed by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of the primary.

Several House Republicans have called for Gonzales to resign or drop out of the campaign after the San Antonio Express-News published explicit text messages from him to his then-staff member, Regina Santos-Aviles, who took her own life last September.

Appearing for an interview on Wednesday on "The Joe Pags Show," hosted by nationally syndicated radio and television commentator Joseph Pagliarulo, Gonzales said he welcomed the ethics committee investigation, vowed to stay in the race and predicted he would win.

Asked whether he had a relationship with Santos-Aviles, Gonzales said: "I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions."

He added he had since "reconciled with my wife," and had "asked God to forgive me, which he has."

He also said that he had "nothing to do" with the death of Santos-Aviles, which he said came more than a year after he said they had last spoken in June of 2024. "I was shocked just as much as anybody else" by her death, he said.

The ethics committee said it would investigate Gonzales to determine whether he "engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employee in his congressional office and/or discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges."

Gonzales denied showing Santos-Aviles any preferential treatment, saying, "At no time was she reprimanded or rewarded in any form or fashion than any other one in the office."

Gonzales, a U.S. Navy veteran trailed Herrera by less than 1,000 votes after Tuesday's primary, with neither candidate receiving 50%, necessitating a runoff. He defeated Herrera, widely known as "the AK Guy," in the 2024 primary by only a few hundred votes.

The lawmaker has said he was the victim of a "coordinated attack" mounted by his political opponents in a bid to undermine his primary campaign.