The House Ethics Committee is investigating Texas Republican Rep. Gonzalez on allegations related to the case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzalez, Republican of Texas, over allegations that include an affair with an aide.

Read more: GOP Rep. Gonzalez enters the Texas primary battle to keep his job after allegations of an affair

The committee’s top Republican and Democratic members said in a joint statement that an investigative committee will look into whether Gonzalez engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he unfairly discriminated by offering special services or benefits.

Gonzalez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The congressman, now serving his third term, has said he will not step down in response to the accusations, telling reporters at the Capitol recently that there will be opportunities to reveal all the details and facts.

“What I saw is not all the facts,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez, a father of six, won his seat for the first time in 2020 after retiring from a 20-year career in the Navy that included time in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Tuesday, he was forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gunsmith and gun rights YouTube influencer who narrowly lost to Gonzalez in the 2024 primary.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which a former Gonzales employee, Regina Ann Santos Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she was having an affair with the congressman.

The AP did not independently obtain copies of the letters. The lawyer of Adrian Avilés, Santos Avilés’ husband, said that the husband discovered this case before his wife’s death.

Santos Avilés, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide.