It is a story as old as time.
Man gets married. Man meets stripper (exotic dancer). Man starts relationship with stripper. Man gets her pregnant (allegedly). Man pays for abortion (allegedly). And maybe another (allegedly). Man drafts legislation making abortion illegal in his state. Man denies paying for abortion. Man minimizes 17 year affair as "an affair."
The Daily Boulder is reporting that Republican Texas State Representative Giovanni Capriglione allegedly carried on a 17-year relationship (not a little "affair") with a former exotic dancer named Alex Grace. She met Capriglione in 2004 when she was just 18!
They began a nearly two decade relationship and she claims he “secretly [paid]for multiple abortions.” She states that he paid her for “meetups” and claimed he “funded several abortions for his own personal gain.” She did not provide any further details.
Grace claims that their relationship began well before he became a politician, but it did continue after he became one. She says that they met at offices and hotels and that he gave her cash and gifts, which is not abnormal in a 17-year relationship. The relationship ended in 2019 or 2020 after she "confronted him about his political positions."
His response was a swift one - not a denial, but a minimization. He said: “Years ago, I selfishly had an affair. I’m not proud of this.” He did not say if she was woman he had an affair with.
He rejected the abortion claims, saying “I have never, nor would I ever, pay for an abortion", but there is a lot of gray area in that statement. For example, if he just gave her money without saying what it was for and she used it for an abortion, he would have effectively "funded" the abortion.
As a quick reminder, this pro-life MAGA Republlican was the author of Texas’ 2021 Human Life Protection Act, the "trigger ban" that became law after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June of 2022.
Just three days before these allegations became public Capriglione announced that he would not be seeking reelection.
FAFO.
Ed. Note: After publication of this article, we realized the story was from 2025. It never hurts to remind everyone about Republicans' hypocrisy, though, so we're leaving it here. Here is Conover's original article.
