The estranged husband of a congressional aide who died by setting herself on fire is breaking his five-month silence with explosive accusations, speaking out to protect his late wife’s reputation and to hold the Texas congressman accountable with whom she alleged she had an affair.
Adrian Aviles claimed Wednesday to the San Antonio Express-News that U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) “abused his power” by seducing his late wife, Regina Ann “Regi” Santos-Aviles, who worked in the congressman’s Uvalde office.
“I said the truth would come to light when it’s time, and the time is now,” Aviles declared via Zoom from his lawyer’s office. “Tony abused his power. He should have held himself to a higher standard as a congressional leader.”
Santos-Aviles, 35, the congressman’s regional district director, died Sept.14 after dousing herself with gasoline and igniting the flames outside her Uvalde home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide by self-immolation.
Aviles claimed he discovered the affair in May 2024, when he spotted his wife texting the married congressman with six children. The messages he found were “very sexual in nature,” he says, with Gonzales repeatedly requesting explicit photos.
“I kind of looked over her shoulder, and I saw that she was texting Tony,” Aviles said.
When he confronted her, she replied: “You’re not going to like what you see.”
When Aviles confronted Gonzales and his staff about going public, he said they retaliated by isolating his wife.
“When that happened, they black-sheeped her,” he said. “They severed communications with her. They gave her a month off. They’re essentially trying to push her out … and make her quit.”
The couple separated months later. Aviles now insists his wife’s death wasn’t suicide but “a cry for help that turned into a tragedy,” claiming she didn’t understand the consequences of her actions.
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