Kamal Ghorui
Rep. Tony Gonzales admitted to having a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide, hours after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the Texas Republican.“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,” Gonzales said in an interview with conservative talk show host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo, published on Wednesday, March 4. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has. And my faith is as strong as ever.”Earlier on Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee voted to investigate Gonzales to determine if he “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office; and/or discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.” Relationships between Congress members and their staffers are barred under the House Code of Official Conduct. Gonzales told Pagliarulo he “looks forward” to the Ethics Committee’s investigation, People reported.The interview was published a day after the Texas primary elections. Gonzales, 45, failed to get 50% of the vote in his House district to earn the Republican nomination outright on Tuesday, March 3, sending him into a runoff election against gun activist Brandon Herrera that will occur on May 26. The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Katy Padilla Stout in November.On Feb. 17, the San Antonio Express-News reported that Santos-Aviles told a former staffer at Gonzales’ district office about an alleged romantic relationship with Gonzales in 2024 and fell into a depression after her husband learned of the relationship. The source, who remained anonymous, showed the outlet a screenshot of a text message Santos-Aviles allegedly sent, confessing to an “affair with our boss.”PEOPLE also obtained text messages Gonzales allegedly sent to Santos-Aviles on May 9-2024, in which he asked her to “send me a sexy pic.” Santos-Aviles appeared to later tell Gonzales, “I just don’t like taking pictures of myself,” and he allegedly replied, “I’m such a visual person.”In his interview with Pagliarulo, Gonzales said Santos-Aviles’ death “was a shock to everyone.”“Some of the reports are saying that she was not thriving at work,” the congressman said. “It’s [the] exact opposite. She was thriving at work.”Pagliarulo also asked Gonzales if the alleged text messages that leaked were real.“I’ll let the investigation play out and share all the different details on it,” he replied. “I will say there’s a whole lot more to this story that isn’t out there.”While some Republicans have called for Gonzales to resign, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week that Gonzales is entitled to due process.“As in every case like this, you have to allow the investigations to play out and all the facts to come out,” Johnson said, per NPR. “If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus test for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, you’ll have a lot of people who would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress.”“This is my third runoff in four cycles,” Gonzales told CNN after the investigation was announced. “We’ll win this runoff as well.”
