Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales has been accused of pressuring yet another staffer for nude photos.
Years before Gonzales, 45, was exposed for his affair with a former subordinate who later died by suicide, the Trump-endorsed politician had relentlessly pursued his former campaign director, the San Antonio Express-News reported Monday.
The Texas congressman, who has six children with his wife, Angel, went so far as to ask the staffer for nudes a dozen times over the course of three days.
“I know what I want and won’t stop until I get it,” he wrote in a text to the staffer in June 2020, according to screenshots shared with the Express-News.
The campaign worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said Gonzales’s behavior began two months after she joined his campaign in April 2020.
While she did engage in explicit conversations with Gonzales, the staffer rebuffed his repeated propositions for sex. Congressional ethics rules prohibit sexual relationships between lawmakers and their staffers.
On June 13, 2020, for example, Gonzales asked to come over to her house “without doing anything,” according to the Express-News. She agreed. After he left around 11 p.m., he wrote in several text messages: “Okay you have two options… I left (as I did) and we continue the mystery////I stayed and we f---ed like rabbits… Which one would you choose?”
His subordinate responded: “Leave. And let the mystery build.”
That same night, he asked if he could come back to her home. “If I come over though your panties are coming off,” he wrote.
The staffer said she came forward after learning of Gonzales’s affair with his one-time regional district director, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, 35, a then-married mother of an eight-year-old boy. Santos-Aviles set herself on fire outside her home in September, a year after her husband learned of the affair.
“[Tony] obviously pursued, pursued, pursued her like he did with me,” the former staffer, who is a decade older than Gonzales, told the outlet. “I never took him serious… It wasn’t until this poor girl died that I thought, ‘No, this guy is pure evil.’”
The staffer added: “This behavior needs to stop.”
Gonzales, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has repeatedly dismissed his affair with Santos-Aviles as “blackmail” and “coordinated political attacks” aimed at removing him from office.
In March, he finally admitted the affair, describing it as a “mistake” and a “lapse in judgment,” adding that God had forgiven him.
On March 5, he announced he would not seek re-election after Congress opened an ethics inquiry into his relationship with Santos-Aviles. He will serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January.
A text thread shared with the San Antonio Express-News shows that Gonzales texted Santos-Aviles just after midnight on May 9, 2024: “Send me a sexy pic.”
Santos-Aviles responded that she was having a rough week and “you don’t really want a hot picture of me.”
That did not dissuade Gonzales, who wrote back, “Yes I do,” and “Hurry.”
The congressman continued to press Santos-Aviles to sext him, the Express-News reports. He asked her what her favorite sexual position was, described one he wanted to try with her, and, even after her initial refusal and warning that “this is going too far boss,” still asked, “What do you like?”
Santos-Aviles did not have a college degree and began working for Gonzales in 2021. A former aide to Gonzales alleged that the politician did “nothing” when he was informed of Santos-Aviles’ declining mental state.
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
