众议院共和党领导层周四要求陷入困境的德克萨斯州共和党众议员托尼·冈萨雷斯(Tony Gonzales)退出竞选连任，此前他承认自己在与一名工作人员发生关系时“犯了一个错误”。
“道德委员会宣布对国会议员托尼进行调查众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊、多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯、共和党党鞭汤姆·艾默和共和党大会主席莉萨·麦克莱恩在一份联合声明中说。
“议员先生冈萨雷斯已经表示将全力配合调查。我们鼓励他直接向他的选民和同事提出这些非常严重的指控。与此同时，领导层要求国会议员冈萨雷斯退出竞选连任，”他们补充说。
约翰逊后来告诉记者，共和党要求冈萨雷斯放弃竞选连任，而不是从国会辞职，这相当于对冈萨雷斯的“死刑”。
”领导发表了声明。这是不言自明的。我们鼓励他退出竞选连任，”约翰逊说。“从政治上来说，那是死刑。”
冈萨雷斯周二晚上进入了5月26日的决选，对手是保守派活动家布兰登·埃雷拉。
第二天，Gonzales与脱口秀主持人Joe Pags Pagliarulo交谈，后者问他是否与他的地区主任Regina Santos-阿比莱斯有关系，后者后来自杀身亡。
"你和这位在你办公室工作的年轻女士有关系吗?"帕格里阿鲁洛问道冈萨雷斯在周三采访开始的时候。
“我犯了一个错误，我判断失误，缺乏信念，我对那些行为负全部责任，”冈萨雷斯回答了。“从那以后，我和我的妻子安吉尔和好了。我请求上帝原谅我，他已经原谅我了。我的信念一如既往的坚定。当你犯这样的错误时，你知道，这并不容易。它让你谦卑。”
该小组说，它已经成立了一个调查小组委员会，以审查指控Gonzales“可能有:(1)对其国会办公室的一名雇员有不正当的性行为;和/或(2)通过给予特殊优惠或特权进行不公平的歧视
冈萨雷斯说:“我很高兴有机会能够提供所有事实和所有细节，准确地说明整个情况发生了什么。”冈萨雷斯拒绝退出竞选连任。
这位议员此前否认了与桑托斯-阿比莱斯的关系。
尽管现在承认了他和她的关系，冈萨雷斯与她的死保持距离，声称自2024年6月以来，在她最终于次年去世之前，他没有与她说过话。
“你知道，事实是，自2024年6月以来，我没有和桑托斯女士说过话。她过了2025年9月。那是一年前的事了。所以，这也是我认为重要的一点——我和她的死有任何关系。我和她的不幸去世毫无关系。事实上，我和其他人一样震惊，”冈萨雷斯说道。
国会工资记录显示桑多斯-阿比莱斯仍然受雇于2025年9月14日，冈萨雷斯的办公室。
冈萨雷斯坚持认为桑多斯-阿比莱斯在他的办公室里受到了很好的对待，没有任何导致她死亡的痛苦迹象，声称她“在工作中蒸蒸日上”
“我总是强调她为我们办公室和社区所做的伟大工作，”冈萨雷斯说，然后归咎于媒体对此事的报道。
ABC新闻之前获得明确的文本消息从2024年5月开始冈萨雷斯反复索要照片，并向桑托斯-阿比莱斯询问她的性取向。
被帕格里阿鲁洛问到短信的事，冈萨雷斯坚持说“还有很多故事没有公开”，但没有进一步评论与桑托斯-阿比莱斯的任何其他通信内容。
当被问及他是否理解老板与下属关系的问题时，冈萨雷斯承认这是一个“重要的”和“我们必须谈论的严肃的问题”，然后再次强调需要“所有的事实”
美国广播公司新闻已经通过记录请求获得了乌瓦尔迪警方关于桑托斯-阿比莱斯死亡的报告，但该报告尚未公开发布。
在周三的面试中，冈萨雷斯对众议院共和党人同胞要求他辞职的担忧不屑一顾，他说，“你永远都会有政治敌人。”
“我不经常和这两个人说话，因为我们的运作方式不同...团体，如果你愿意，”冈萨雷斯他指的是共和党众议员南希·梅斯(Nancy Mace)和众议员安娜·保利娜·卢娜(Anna Paulina Luna)，她们对针对他的指控表示了担忧。“但我要说的是，你永远不能让那些人以任何形式或方式拖你的后腿。”
尽管面临指控和道德调查，冈萨雷斯仍坚持唐纳德·特朗普总统的支持，他说，他没有直接与特朗普谈论此事。
“我感谢总统的支持，”冈萨雷斯说道。
“当他来到德克萨斯时，我正好在科珀斯(克里斯蒂)。那是一个不可思议的事件。每个人都充满活力，”冈萨雷斯他补充道，指的是总统上周的旅行，特朗普在人群面前给了这位国会议员一个大喊，并向他表示祝贺。
House GOP leaders ask Tony Gonzales to drop reelection bid after admitting relationship with staffer
House Republican leadership on Thursday asked embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, to drop out his race for reelection after he admitted he "made a mistake" in having a relationship with a staffer.
"The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman TonyGonzales's conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously," House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican Whip Tom Emmer and Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain said in a joint statement.
"CongressmanGonzaleshas said he will fully cooperate with the investigation. We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues. In the meantime, Leadership has asked CongressmanGonzalesto withdraw from his race for re-election," they added.
Johnson told reporters later that the GOP's call for Gonzales to drop his reelection bid -- rather than resign from Congress -- amounts to "a death penalty" for Gonzales.
"Leadership put out a statement. It speaks for itself. We've encouraged him to drop out of the race for reelection,"Johnson said."Politically, that's a death penalty."
Gonzaleson Tuesday nightadvanced to a runoff primary election on May 26 against conservative activist Brandon Herrera.
The next day, Gonzales spoke with talk show host Joe "Pags" Pagliarulo who asked if he had a relationship with his district director, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later died by suicide.
"Was there a relationship with this young lady, um, who was working in your office?" Pagliarulo askedGonzalesat the outset of the interview on Wednesday.
"I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,"Gonzalesanswered. "Since then, I've reconciled with my wife Angel. I've asked God to forgive me, which he has. And my faith is as strong as ever. When you make mistakes like this, you know, it's never easy. It humbles you."
Gonzalessaid he looks forward to the House Ethics Committee's investigation into the allegations.
The panel said it has established an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations thatGonzales "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."
"I appreciate the opportunity to be able to provide all the facts and all the details that lead to exactly what occurred in the entire situation," said Gonzales, who has declined to withdraw from his reelection bid.
The congressman had previously denied the relationship with Santos-Aviles.
Despite now admitting his relationship with her,Gonzalesdistanced himself from her death, claiming that he had not spoken with her since June of 2024, before she ultimately died the following year.
"You know, the facts are, I hadn't spoken with Ms. Santos since June of 2024. She passed September of 2025. That was over a year ago. So, this is what I think is important as well -- is this whole notion that I had anything to do with her death. I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing. And in fact, I was shocked just as much as everyone else,"Gonzalessaid.
Congressional payroll records show that Santos-Aviles was still employed inGonzales' office on the date of her death, Sept. 14, 2025.
Gonzalesinsisted that Santos-Aviles was treated well in his office and showed no signs of distress leading up to her death, claiming that she was "thriving at work."
"I've always highlighted the great work that she had done for our office and the community,"Gonzalessaid, before pinning blame on the media coverage of the matter.
ABC News previouslyobtained explicit text messagesfrom May of 2024 appearing to showGonzales repeatedly request photos and ask Santos-Aviles about her sexual preferences.
Asked by Pagliarulo about the text messages,Gonzalesinsisted that there is "a lot more to the story that isn't out there," without commenting further on the content of any other communications with Santos-Aviles.
Asked if he understands the issues surrounding a boss having a relationship with his subordinate,Gonzalesacknowledged that it's an "important" and "serious issue that we have to talk about," before again emphasizing the need for "all the facts."
ABC News has obtained the Uvalde police report on Santos-Aviles death through a records request, but the report has not been posted publicly.
During Wednesday's interview,Gonzalesbrushed off concerns from fellow House Republicans that have called for his resignation, saying, "you're always going to have political enemies."
"I don't speak with those two on a regular basis, that we operate in different ... groups, if you will,"Gonzalessaid, referring to Republican Reps. Nancy Mace and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who have voiced concerns over the allegations against him. "But what I will say is you can never let those people slow you down in any form or fashion."
Gonzales, who maintains President Donald Trump's endorsement despite the allegations and ethics inquiry, said he has not spoken directly with Trump about the matter.
"I appreciate the president's support,"Gonzalessaid.
"I was just actually in Corpus [Christi] when he came down to Texas. That was an incredible event. Everybody was energized,"Gonzalesadded, referring to the president's trip last week where Trump gave the congressman a shoutout and congratulated him before the crowd.
