3/5/2026 | USA | politics | ✓ Verified - washingtontimes.com

Rep. Tony Gonzales confesses affair with aide, denies responsibility for her suicide

#Tony Gonzales #Affair #Suicide #Ethics Committee #Primary Election #Text Messages #Political Scandal #Congressional Ethics

📌 Key Takeaways

Gonzales admitted to an affair but denied responsibility for the aide's suicide
Explicit text messages were released as evidence of the relationship
The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the affair
Gonzales is continuing his reelection campaign despite calls to resign
The aide's widower has accused Gonzales of being responsible for his wife's death

📖 Full Retelling

Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales publicly confessed Wednesday to having an affair with one of his employees who later died by self-immolation but said he had nothing to do with her tragic suicide, reversing his previous denials after explicit text messages were released as evidence. The congressman, who represents Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, had previously denied the relationship with staffer Regina Ann Santos-Aviles and accused her widower, Adrian Aviles, of attempting to extort money from him. The confession came during an interview with talk-show host Joe Pags, where Gonzales admitted to 'a lapse in judgment' and said he had reconciled with his wife and sought forgiveness from God. The admission followed the release of sexually explicit text messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles that made her discomfort with her boss' overtures apparent. The House Ethics Committee announced on the same day that it had opened an investigation into whether Gonzales had an affair with Santos-Aviles and whether he gave her a generous pay raise because of it, which Gonzales denied, claiming any salary adjustments were part of a staff-wide increase.

🏷️ Themes

Political Scandal, Ethics Investigation, Personal Responsibility

📚 Related People & Topics

Affair

Secret or unapproved attachment outside a relationship

An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical, solely emotional, or a combination of these. The relationship is co...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Tony Gonzales

American politician (born 1980)

# Tony Gonzales **Ernest Anthony Gonzales II** (born October 10, 1980) is an American politician and United States Navy veteran serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he assumed office in 2021. His district is notable for encomp...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Primary election

Election that narrows the field of candidates before an election for office

Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open primary", in which all voters are eligible to participate...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Ethics committee (disambiguation)

Topics referred to by the same term

An ethics committee is a body that oversees the conduct of medical research and other human experimentation, in USA also called institutional review board.

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Suicide

Intentional act causing one's own death

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties), relationship pro...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Entity Intersection Graph

Connections for Affair:

👤 Tony Gonzales 1 shared

🌐 Ethics committee (disambiguation) 1 shared

🌐 Suicide 1 shared

View full profile