WASHINGTON – A Republican congressman from Texas is facing an ethics probe amid allegations he had an affair with a staffer who later died by self-immolation.
The House Ethics Committee voted to establish an investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzales on March 4, further miring the lawmaker in a scandal that has plagued his reelection campaign. Gonzales faces a primary runoff against gun rights activist Brandon Herrera.
The panel will examine whether he "engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office" and "discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges." The members of an investigative subcommittee will be announced at a later date. Gonzales was not immediately accused of any wrongdoing by the committee.
The congressman, a father of six, has been publicly accused by the husband of his late ex-staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, of engaging in the affair. NBC News reported last month that Gonzales sent Santos-Aviles, who died in September 2025, multiple sexually explicit texts in May 2024. The San Antonio Express-News also reported that Santos-Aviles admitted the improper relationship in text messages with a former colleague.
Before the reported text communications surfaced, Gonzales denied having an affair with Santos-Aviles. He hasn't addressed the substance of the allegations against him more recently but has insisted he will resist fresh calls to resign from Congress. He said in a Feb. 22 social media post that he was being targeted by "coordinated political attacks" ahead of his reelection.
