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By JOHN HANNA and JUAN LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas confronted rising calls Tuesday from fellow congressional Republicans to resign over a report of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fireplace.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina in demanding that Gonzales step down instantly. Mace additionally introduced that she has launched a decision to power the Home Ethics Fee to publicly launch its experiences and data of allegations of sexual harassment towards members of Congress.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson informed reporters that he would discuss to Gonzales on Tuesday.
Johnson stated Monday that the accusations towards Gonzales “have to be taken severely,” however he added, “in each case like this, it’s important to enable the investigation to play out and all of the info to return out.”
“If the accusation of one thing goes to be the litmus for somebody having the ability to proceed to serve within the Home, lots of people must resign or be eliminated or expelled from Congress,” Johnson stated.
Gonzales’ workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday. He stated in a social media publish final week that he was being blackmailed after which advised in one other publish Sunday that he’s the goal of “coordinated political assaults.”
“Throughout my six years in Congress not a single formal criticism has been levied towards my workplace,” Gonzales stated within the Sunday publish on X. “IT WONT WORK.”
Gonzales is in a tricky race in Texas’ Republican major on March 3, with early voting underway for greater than per week. His fundamental opponent is Brandon Herrera, a gun producer and gun rights influencer who calls himself “the AK Man” on YouTube, the place his channel has almost 4.2 million subscribers. Gonzales narrowly defeated Herrera by fewer than 400 votes in a runoff in 2024.
President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzales for reelection in December.
The San Antonio Specific-Information reported final week that it had obtained textual content messages through which the previous staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the lawmaker.
The Related Press has not independently obtained copies of the messages. An legal professional for Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband, has stated the husband came upon concerning the affair earlier than his spouse’s dying.
Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fireplace within the yard of her Uvalde residence. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Workplace later dominated her dying as a suicide by self-immolation.
“The place are the opposite males within the GOP?” Massie requested Tuesday in a publish on X in calling for Gonzales to resign, including that Trump ought to revoke his endorsement.
Gonzales, whose district stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and runs alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, has six kids together with his spouse.
His allegation of blackmail is predicated on an e mail from the legal professional for the staffer’s husband, Robert Barrera, discussing a attainable lawsuit towards the lawmaker and a possible settlement with a nondisclosure settlement. The e-mail says that the utmost recoverable quantity is $300,000.
Barrera has stated he was not making an attempt to blackmail Gonzales and known as the accusation an try by the congressman to seem like a political sufferer.
Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Additionally contributing was Related Press journalist Kevin Freking in Washington.
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