Rep. Tony Gonzales, Texas Republican, said he is being “blackmailed” by the husband of a now-deceased staffer after the lawmaker allegedly had an affair with her.
Mr. Gonzales, who has publicly denied the affair allegations, posted a partial screenshot of an email from a lawyer representing Adrian Aviles, the husband of the staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who died after setting herself on fire.
Attorney Robert Barrera proposed a $300,000 settlement with a non-disclosure agreement.
He seemingly references statutory deadlines for the Congressional Accountability Act, which provides congressional staffers an avenue to sue if they face discrimination, harassment or labor violations at work.
Mr. Barrera told the San Antonio Express-News that he has not filed a claim nor initiated a lawsuit, but said that people in Washington have contacted Mr. Aviles about possibly filing an ethics complaint with a congressional committee.
Mr. Gonzales said he “will not be blackmailed.”
“Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death. The public should IMMEDIATELY have full access to the Uvalde Police report” on Ms. Santos-Aviles’ suicide, he said.
Mr. Aviles said the full police report and body-cam footage were withheld because it shows Ms. Santos-Aviles on fire in “horrific detail.”
“Nothing in that police report protects you. That decision is about protecting our child’s well-being, not concealing anything improper,” he said in a post on social media that replied to the Gonzales post that included the lawyer’s email.
Mr. Aviles said he has never blackmailed the lawmaker, but has instead seen “a consistent pattern of evasion, refusal to take accountability, and outright lies to protect your image.”
“Your actions have been disgraceful, and you continue to mislead your constituents with falsehoods. You may avoid responsibility here on earth, but one day you will answer to a higher authority. Today, though, you still answer to the people you represent — people who deserve the truth, not more deception,” he said in his social media post to Mr. Gonzales.
Mr. Barrera told the Express-News that he sent the email Feb. 10 to Mr. Gonzales’ San Antonio-based attorney, J.D. Paurstein, but received no response.
He said he was “in shock” that the lawmaker chose to publish part of what he described as a confidential settlement communication.
“This is clearly a last act of a desperate man who is going to do anything but admit what he did,” Mr. Barrera said.
While he said the letter “clearly shows we did not want to go public,” he and Mr. Aviles were not “attempting to damage” the married congressman’s career.
A lawsuit could be damaging nonetheless, as Mr. Gonzales will be on the ballot on March 3 for the Republican primary in this year’s midterm election.
Mr. Gonzales accused his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, on Wednesday of politicizing the death of his former staffer after Mr. Herrera cited potential ethics violations.
State Rep. Wes Virdell, a Republican whose district overlaps with Mr. Gonzales’ U.S. congressional district, said that the federal lawmaker should step down if the affair allegations are true.
“The family deserves to heal and get past this terrible tragedy. That will be impossible to do if they have to see the person who did it show no remorse for the situation and get re-elected to represent them in Congress,” said Mr. Virdell, who has endorsed Mr. Gonzales’ primary challenger.
The San Antonio Express-News editorial board also rescinded its endorsement of the Texas representative.
Allegations that the congressman had an affair were long speculated, but became public through messages first reported by the Express-News on Wednesday, showing Ms. Santos-Aviles referencing an “affair with our boss.”
A former colleague in Mr. Gonzales’ district office in Uvalde said that Ms. Santos-Aviles had an affair with the lawmaker in 2024, and she became depressed after her husband discovered the relationship and cut it off.
She doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire outside her Uvalde home in September. She died in a hospital.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.