Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Democrat Ruben Gallego by GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
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WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee has rejected a complaint filed against Sen. Ruben Gallego accusing him of campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct, according to a letter released by the Arizona Democrat’s office Monday.
The letter noted that the ethics panel “did not find evidence” that Gallego’s actions violated any law, Senate rules or standards of conduct for members of Congress. The note was signed by all six committee members — three Republicans and three Democrats.
The committee took statements from individuals, combed through federal campaign finance filings and examined congressional financial disclosures as part of its investigation.
Members of the committee thanked Gallego for his “prompt contact” with ethics investigators “following media reports of the allegations” and “appreciated” his “full cooperation.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) referred the Arizona senator to the Ethics Committee following a series of sexual assault and misconduct accusations against Gallego’s former “best friend” in Congress, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
Gallego, 46, had denied any wrongdoing and told reporters in April that he has never engaged in any sexual misconduct with staff or women outside of his marriage.
He responded to the complaint’s dismissal in a statement Monday, saying that it “reaffirms” the allegations were “right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.”
“I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families,” Gallego also wrote.
“The good news about DC is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts,” Luna wrote in an X post responding to Gallego. “Do yourself a favor and keep raising for your legal defense fund. Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.”
Luna began her crusade in April by coming after Swalwell, stating there “still needs to be a full-fledged criminal investigation” following his resignation from Congress.
“Based on what I’m hearing, he may go to jail” Lunda claimed in an X post about the Californian.
Luna then claimed in a CBS News interview April 16 that a woman was preparing to speak out about an “incident” involving Swalwell and Gallego “at the same time, and the event was sexual in nature, allegedly.”
On April 23, the Republican confirmed that she had referred Gallego to the Senate Ethics Committee but claimed the upper chamber was “being awfully quiet about it.”
“I have now heard of 4 women who have had multiple and uncomfortable/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego,” she wrote.
After the allegations against Swalwell came out, Gallego said he was aware of the rumors but “never heard actual accusations of harassment of staff or predatory behavior toward staff.”
The two had served together in the House for a decade, and Gallego told reporters that his family and Swalwell’s family “were as close as it gets.”
The Arizonan claimed to have considered his former best friend to be “just a flirty social guy” despite hearing rumors about Swalwell’s conduct for “many years.”
“I fell for it,” Gallego said after Swalwell quit Congress, adding that his colleague “became very good at being a predator,” and “extremely proficient at lying to us, lying to his family, lying to his community.”
Swalwell attended Gallego’s wedding in Puerto Rico, Gallego chaired Swalwell’s 2020 president bid, and the pair were heavily criticized for accepting an $85,000 trip to Doha, Qatar in the spring of 2021.
Federal Election Commission filings showed that Gallego and Swawell used money from a joint campaign account to pay for a trip to Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., Politico reported earlier this month.