Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) does not plan to resign despite calls from his fellow House Republicans to step away from Congress, after late-night explicit text messages with a former staffer were exposed this week.
“I will not resign,” Gonzales told reporters leaving House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) office. The two did not speak, with a source familiar telling the Washington Examiner that Gonzales dropped by the speaker’s office unscheduled while Johnson was in a meeting.
Johnson said earlier Tuesday that he expected to speak with Gonzales regarding the brewing scandal. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Gonzales sent explicit late-night texts to Regina Santos-Aviles, a former aide who set herself on fire last year. The texts show Gonzales pressuring Santos-Aviles to send sexual images and peppering her with inappropriate questions.
When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if the text messages are authentic and if the alleged affair between himself and Santos-Aviles occurred, Gonzales said, “What you have seen are not all the facts.”
At least six Republicans have publicly called on Gonzales to either resign or drop his reelection bid. Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) have called on Gonzales to resign. Meanwhile, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Brandon Gill (R-TX), and Chip Roy (R-TX) have called on Gonzales to suspend his reelection campaign.
Other Republicans are waiting to see how the matter plays out. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), who sits on the House Ethics Committee, told the Washington Examiner she looks forward to learning the details about what transpired.
“We need to do that investigation, because if it’s true he was having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, that is a serious breach of conduct,” Hinson said.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) said she thinks the decision of whether Gonzales stays in Congress “needs to be made by his constituents.”
“They’re going to have an opportunity to do that — early voting has already begun,” Van Duyne said.
House leadership has taken a wait-and-see approach to Gonzales. Earlier in the week, Johnston told reporters he “endorsed Tony before all these allegations came out” but dodged on whether that support would continue, saying it was too early to “prejudge.”
“They’re obviously very serious,” Johnson said of the text messages, “and I’ve spoken with him and told him he’s got to address that in the appropriate way with his constituents and all of that. So it’s too early for anybody to prejudge any of that.”
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, declined to comment on whether Gonzales should resign.
LAUREN BOEBERT CALLS ON TONY GONZALES TO RESIGN OVER EXPLICIT TEXTS WITH LATE STAFFER
“I’m not going to get ahead of the speaker on this … the speaker said publicly that Tony needs to respond to the allegations,” Hudson said via Punchbowl News.
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said she believes in the rule of law, but if the allegations are true, “it’s extremely, extremely disgusting.”
