Tony Gonzales faces damning ethics reckoning as House Committee launches misconduct probe
WASHINGTON, DC: The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday, March 4, announced that it has opened a formal investigation into Rep Tony Gonzales, establishing an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations of misconduct involving a former staff member.
The announcement comes as the Texas Republican faces a primary runoff to retain his party’s nomination for his South Texas seat.
The probe will review whether Gonzales violated the Code of Official Conduct or other applicable rules. The committee did not provide a timeline for when the investigation might conclude.
Ethics panel to review serious allegations against Tony Gonzales
In a statement, the House Ethics Committee said that it voted to review whether 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 physical misconduct toward an individual employed in his congressional office; and/or (2) discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
News — Tony Gonzales, facing scandal, told me: “I will not resign.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 24, 2026
I asked him if the texts are authentic and if he had carried on an affair with a staffer. He would not directly say.
“What you have seen are not all the facts.”
He plans to speak with Johnson today pic.twitter.com/C2S99zOQ8j
House rules explicitly prohibit members from engaging in an inappropriate relationship with staffers or making unwelcome physical advances.
The allegations involve Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who worked in Gonzales’s district office and died in 2025 after allegedly setting herself on fire.
Rumors of an affair surfaced following her death and re-emerged in recent weeks after media reports cited text messages and other communications.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Santos-Aviles wrote to another staffer in April 2025: “I had an affair with our boss, and I’m fine.”
Additional text messages, said to have been extracted from her phone and shared with media outlets, allegedly show Gonzales soliciting explicit materials while she indicated he was going too far.
Gonzales has denied any wrongdoing and has resisted calls from some fellow Republicans to resign.
He previously described the allegations as a “smear” by political opponents and said he would not be “blackmailed.”
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the committee’s announcement.
Probe announced amid high-stakes GOP runoff
The investigation was announced one day after Gonzales advanced to a Republican primary runoff against challenger Brandon Herrera.
Neither candidate secured a majority in the initial vote, setting up a May 26 contest. The timing of the Ethics Committee’s move is tied to House rules limiting certain actions within 60 days of an election.
Several Republican colleagues have publicly urged Gonzales to resign or end his reelection bid. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said Gonzales is entitled to due process and that he would wait to see how the election plays out.
Ethics Committee investigations are typically confidential and can take months or years to resolve, with any recommendations for discipline issued at the panel’s conclusion.
