A congressional ethics investigation started Wednesday into an alleged affair between Rep. Tony Gonzales, Texas Republican, and a regional office staffer who later died after setting herself on fire.
The House Ethics Committee announced its probe, having voted to establish an investigative subcommittee.
It will examine whether Mr. Gonzales “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities, with respect to allegations that he may have: (1) engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office; and/or (2) discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
House rules prohibit sexual relationships between members of Congress and their staff.
The Ethics Committee cannot make any referral within 60 days of an election, but it can take place right after, hence the announcement following a contested Tuesday primary between Mr. Gonzales and challenger Brandon Herrera.
The investigation could take months, so a final report may not be released until well after the runoff election.
“I welcome the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee,” Mr. Gonzales said in a statement.
The Office of Congressional Conduct is also probing the lawmaker over the reported affair with Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, which it opened months ago.
The investigation found “a substantial reason to believe that Rep. Gonzales engaged in a sexual relationship with an employee of the House of Representatives who was working under his supervision,” POLITICO reported.
Mr. Gonzales, his Chief of Staff Cesar Prieto, and two other staffers, Brittney Smith and Alfredo Arellano III, all refused to cooperate with the conduct office, according to the report. The office recommended that the House Ethics Committee subpoena them.
Ethics investigators sent a letter to her widower, Adrian Aviles, last November, seeking “all documents and communications” relating to the relationship between Santos-Aviles and Mr. Gonzales, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The ethics agency investigated the case last year as well, Punchbowl News reported.
Messages between Santos-Aviles and a former colleague in the Uvalde district office were uncovered by the Express-News, in which she references an “affair with our boss.”
Her husband had learned about the relationship and demanded she end it, and Santos-Aviles then became depressed, the former colleague said.
She died on Sept. 14 after pouring gasoline on herself and setting herself on fire outside her Uvalde home.
Mr. Gonzales has publicly denied the affair.
But Mr. Aviles and his lawyer, Robert Barrera, proposed a $300,000 settlement and a nondisclosure agreement to the lawmaker. In turn, Mr. Gonzales shook his finger at the two, deeming their demands “blackmail.”
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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