GOP Lawmaker Claims He’s Getting ‘Blackmailed’ Over Staffer’s Death | EUROtoday

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) on Thursday claimed he’s being “blackmailed” over the latest dying of a employees member with whom he reportedly had an affair.

But in an interview with HuffPost, Robert Barrera, an lawyer representing the staffer’s household, referred to as Gonzales’ blackmail declare “a last act of desperation of a politician who’s going down the toilet.”

Gonzales posted a picture on social media of a message from Barrera discussing a $300,000 settlement in trade for his shopper signing a non-disclosure settlement. Barrera represents the husband of Regina Santos-Aviles, who labored for Gonzales out of his district workplace in Uvalde and reportedly had an affair with him earlier than she died in September after setting herself on fireplace.

“I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED,” Gonzales wrote. “Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death. The public should IMMEDIATELY have full access to the Uvalde Police report.”

Barrera stated his shopper, Adrian Aviles, was providing to settle privately as a substitute of submitting a declare below the Congressional Accountability Act over his spouse’s dying. The legislation, which was up to date within the Me Too period, provides employment and labor rights to legislative department workers, together with those that undergo sexual harassment and retaliation. Barrera stated the letter was despatched on Feb. 10, greater than every week earlier than the San Antonio Express-News reported Tuesday that one other one that labored for Gonzales confirmed he’d had an affair with Aviles’ now-deceased spouse.

Gonzales is utilizing the letter to faux he’s being blackmailed, Barrera stated, when the reality is that he had an affair with a staffer after which stymied her profession after phrase began getting round concerning the relationship final yr. Barrera stated he and his shopper needed to maintain issues quiet, and that the affair solely got here to gentle this week as a result of one other unnamed former Gonzales staffer talked to the press.

“I’m just shocked that he is playing the victim, that somehow we’re the bad guy when he had an affair with a staffer subordinate, and which ultimately led to her emotional demise and death, and he’s the victim here,” Barrera stated. “All Adrian ever wanted was for Tony to man up and accept responsibility for his conduct, and he still refuses to do that.”

Gonzales has maintained that he had no affair with Santos-Aviles, even after the Express-News reported it had obtained screenshots of texts wherein Santos-Aviles described their romantic relationship. Aviles informed the Express-News he and his spouse had separated after he discovered she’d cheated on him.

In a response to Gonzales’ publish on Thursday, Aviles expressed disgust on the lawmaker’s demand for the discharge of the police report about his spouse’s dying.

“We chose to hold back the full police report and body cam footage for one reason only it shows my wife suffering severe burns in horrific detail,” Aviles wrote. “I will not allow that graphic material to become accessible to our 8 year old son in the future when he is old enough to search for or come across it.”

News about Gonzales’ obvious relationship with a staffer who then died by self-immolation broke this week, proper in the beginning of early voting within the Republican main election. Gonzales is going through Brandon Herrera, a gun-enthusiast YouTuber who almost defeated him within the 2024 main.