Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) acknowledged Wednesday that he had an affair with a staff member who later died after setting herself on fire, contradicting his previous denials of a scandal that has dogged him through his bitter GOP primary race.
“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 on “The Joe Pags Show,” a conservative radio program. “Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel, I’ve asked God to forgive me — which he has — and my faith is as strong as ever.”
Gonzales’s admission came hours after the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and that he “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
Under House rules, lawmakers are not permitted to engage in sexual relationships with staff members.
Gonzales on Tuesday fell short of the majority vote required to avoid a runoff in his GOP primary race. Now he will face off against the other top finisher, Brandon Herrera, a YouTuber with a gun business who calls himself “the AK Guy.”
Gonzales, a married father of six, was accused of having an improper relationship with a then-aide, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who died in September after lighting herself on fire in her backyard. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Since then, the former aide’s estranged husband has shared text messages that showed Gonzales pressing Santos-Aviles for a “sexy pic” and asking her about her favorite sex position. Santos-Aviles pushed back, writing, “This is going too far boss,” at one point in the May 2024 conversation.
Gonzales recently declined to say whether the messages are authentic. He previously denied any wrongdoing or improper relationship with Santos-Aviles, and he said Wednesday that he would “let the investigation play out.”
“I look forward to the Ethics Committee starting an investigation. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to provide all the facts and all the details that lead to exactly what occurred in the entire situation,” Gonzales said during the radio interview. He added that he had not spoken with Santos-Aviles since June 2024 and was “shocked” when he learned of her death.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales also said in the interview that a criminal defense attorney for Santos-Aviles’s husband reached out to him a couple months after the staffer’s death to ask for $300,000 “or else” — suggesting an effort to blackmail him.
Aviles’s lawyer, Bobby Barrera, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night but previously confirmed to The Post that he had reached out to Gonzales’s attorney seeking a settlement.
“It’s not blackmail when you offer to settle a significantly damaging lawsuit confidentially,” Barrera told The Post in an interview last month. “It’s not blackmail to pursue legal rights in court. It’s not blackmail to tell the truth. … To me, that was a total last act of desperation of Tony trying to play the victim once again of his own salacious conduct.”
Gonzales, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, has adamantly refused calls to resign from Congress or to end his reelection bid — several of which came from his Republican colleagues. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who is holding onto a razor-thin majority in the House, has called the accusations against Gonzales “very serious” but has not urged him to step aside, saying the issue would “play out” in his reelection bid.
On Wednesday, Gonzales once again waved off calls for him to resign or drop his reelection campaign. “Those that are asking for me not to do my job are the ones that want to see the Republicans fail here in Congress,” he said on the radio program. “There’s no time. There’s no — we can’t let anything slow us down from executing President Trump’s agenda.”
The Office of Congressional Conduct, a nonpartisan office governed by a board of private citizens, had begun looking into allegations against Gonzales in November, according to the San Antonio Express-News, and it was required to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee by Wednesday for either further review or dismissal.
Under House rules, the Ethics Committee has up to 90 days to release the OCC’s report — unless it creates an investigative subcommittee, as it has this time, in which case it must release the OCC’s findings within a year. Members of the investigative subcommittee have not been selected yet, Guest said Wednesday, suggesting that findings of the investigation will not be made public very soon. There is no timeline for Ethics Committee investigations, which can take months.
Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina), one of the GOP lawmakers who has called on Gonzales to resign, introduced a resolution last week that would compel the Ethics Committee to release, within 60 days of adoption, all reports related to sexual harassment violations involving lawmakers, their staff members or lobbyists.
House Ethics Committee members opposed the bill, warning that it could have a chilling effect on victim and witness participation in their investigations. On Wednesday afternoon, the House voted 357-65 to refer Mace’s resolution to committee, effectively killing it.
“The establishment protects itself, never the victims,” Mace wrote on X after the vote.
Voters do not always punish scandals, and this was apparent Tuesday night in other Texas primary races. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) handily defeated a primary challenger, despite being charged in 2024 with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy and being pardoned by President Donald Trump last year.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faced a lengthy impeachment trial (which ended in acquittal) and a very public divorce in which his wife accused him of adultery, nevertheless will head into a runoff against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for his seat, after neither captured a majority of the vote Tuesday.
Teo Armus and Kadia Goba contributed to this report.
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