A growing chorus of Republicans are calling on Texas GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales to resign, after text messages surfaced showing him pressuring an aide who later died by suicide to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.
Yet Speaker Mike Johnson is protecting Gonzales, saying Gonzales deserves due process and thus won't make a determination on whether he should resign until an investigation plays out. It's transparently an effort by Johnson to ensure he doesn't lose a reliable GOP vote from his extremely narrow majority.
“It is my understanding there’s an investigation in the state of Texas on these matters and has been going for some time, and the Office of Congressional Conduct has also, it’s been reported, they’ve been looking at it and all of that was news to me," Johnson told reporters on Monday. "But I … think as in every case like this, you have to allow the investigations to play out and all the facts to come out.”
Of course, there's little doubt that what Gonzales did was wrong.
Congressional ethics rules clearly state that members of Congress are not permitted to have sexual relationships with their staff.
“A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House who works under the supervision of the Member,” the House Code of Conduct states.
And there is clear text message evidence that Gonzales had a sexual relationship with his congressional aide, who even more disturbingly appeared uncomfortable with Gonzales's advances.
"Send me a sexy pic,” Gonzales texted his aide Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who later self-immolated after reports that she had been iced out by staff after they learned she was having a sexual relationship with their boss.
Santos-Aviles replied, “you don't really want a hot picture of me.”
"Yes I do,” Gonzales responded, adding, "Hurry."
To which Santos-Aviles texted back “No, I just don't like taking pictures of myself."
In another exchange, Gonzales asked Santos-Aviles about her favorite sexual positions, including one message in which he asked her if she liked "anal." Santos-Aviles responded that Gonzalez was going “too far.”
The messages are disturbing, and unequivocally show Gonzales violated the House code of conduct.
But Johnson has just a bare majority, with 218 votes to Democrats' 214. That means he can afford to lose just one vote if every House member is present. If Gonzales resigned, that would further narrow that number and hamper his ability to get legislation passed. So rather than force Gonzales out, the supposedly God-fearing speaker is letting Gonzales stick around.
While Johnson is protecting Gonzales, the few female GOP lawmakers in his conference say Gonzales needs to step down.
"These text messages are disgusting and inexcusable," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) wrote in a post on X. "A Member of Congress. Harassing his own staffer in the middle of the night. Asking for explicit photos. Pressing her on sexual positions. Regina Santos-Aviles told him he was going too far. He did not care. He kept going."
Mace added that Gonzales "should resign immediately and be held fully accountable for what he’s done."
"She is gone now. Her son is growing up without his mother. And Tony Gonzales is campaigning like nothing happened," Mace said. "We have ZERO tolerance for those who abuse their power over others. Zero. It does not matter what party you are in, what title you hold, or how powerful you think you are. You do not get a free pass."
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) responded to a post on X that had screenshots of the text messages Gonzalez sent Santos-Aviles with a simple request: "@RepTonyGonzales, RESIGN!"
"It is time for Tony to let someone else represent the great people of TX. Tony, you should drop out of the race," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) wrote.
Even some male Republican lawmakers said Gonzales needs to go.
"America deserves better," Rep. Brendan Gill, a fellow Texas Republican, wrote in a post on X. "Tony should drop out of the race."
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said Gonzales needs to “do the right thing and resign."
Of course, Gonzales faces voters one week from today in Texas’ March 3 primary. He already faced a tough primary reelection battle against Republican Brandon Herrera. Now that his inappropriate affair has been all over the news in the final days of the race, it’s possible he’ll lose his primary fight.
Yet that’s not enough. Gonzales needs to leave Congress early. We won’t hold our breath for Johnson to do the right thing and make Gonzales go.
Published with permission of Daily Kos
