Gonzales resigns in wake of renewed expulsion threat after scandal

Embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, made his resignation from Congress official on Tuesday as he faced the looming, rare threat of expulsion from the House. 

Gonzales’ brief resignation letter was read aloud on the House floor and will mark his exit from Congress amid scandal just before the stroke of midnight on Tuesday. 

“It has been my privilege to serve the residents of Texas’s 23rd congressional district,” Gonzales wrote in his letter.

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It comes on the heels of calls for his resignation and others’, including Reps. Cory Mills, R-Fla., Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., and former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., from the House for a variety of scandals. 

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., introduced an expulsion resolution against Gonzales just before his resignation letter was read aloud on the House floor after the embattled lawmaker failed to meet her deadline to resign from Congress. 

The embattled lawmaker announced his plans on Monday to “file his retirement” but did not specify when he planned to step aside, prompting Leger Fernández to move forward with her expulsion resolution.

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“Representative Tony Gonzales has admitted to the wrongdoing, he admitted to having sexual relationships, which is basically sexual assault, of his staff members,” Leger Fernández said in a video statement on X.  

Gonzales, who is married and has six children, admitted to having an affair with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later died by setting herself on fire. But he has not acknowledged a second accusation of sexual misconduct with a former aide reported by The San Antonio-Express News.

He was also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

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The scandal prompted Gonzales to suspend his re-election campaign in March after House Republican leadership swiftly jumped ship and called on him to exit his race. 

Meanwhile, Swalwell’s resignation letter was read on the floor just moments after Gonzales’. Swalwell’s exit from Congress became official at 2 p.m.

Five women, including one former staffer, have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct or rape. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has opened a criminal investigation into one incident that allegedly occurred in a New York City hotel room.

The former lawmaker apologized to his family and constituents in his letter, and he vowed to fight the allegations against him. 

“I will fight the serious false allegations made against me,” Swalwell wrote. “However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”