USA16 July, 20263 min read
Report Says Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego Had Sexual Relationships With Two House Staffers
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Two House staffers, aides to Texas Democrats, were involved with Gallego. Relationships occurred while Gallego was in the House and unmarried.
Gallego’s “gossip” denial
A report says Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego had sexual relationships with at least two House staffers while he was in the House of Representatives, and it frames the claims as occurring during his decade representing Phoenix.
“Minutes after this article was published, the senator gave a non-denial to an NBC News journalist on Capitol Hill, uttering, ‘I’m not going to engage in gossip.’”
The New York Post reported that Gallego admitted to an unnamed source that he had two relationships with aides to Texas Democrats, and a second unnamed source said they’d “recently learned of the romantic entanglements,” according to the story.
When NBC News reporter Frank Thorp asked Gallego about the Post’s article, Gallego repeated the phrase, “I’m not going to engage in gossip.”
The New York Post also said the relationships were believed to have been consensual and occurred between his marriages to now-Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and the senator’s current wife, Sydney, with one woman in her 20s at the time and Gallego in his mid-to-late 30s.
The Independent similarly said the relationships were with two aides to Texas Democrats and that Gallego served in the House from 2015 to 2025 before moving to the Senate, while noting Gallego’s response to the report was also “I’m not going to engage in gossip.”
Schumer avoids questions
As the report circulated, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to weigh in, telling Fox News Digital, “I’m not — I’m focused on this right now.” Fox News said Schumer pivoted to his planned speech railing against President Donald Trump’s scheduled address on foreign interference in the 2020 election Thursday night, while the Post reported Gallego’s relationships were believed to have happened while he was unmarried. The Independent reported that last month the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations against Gallego made by Representative Anna Paulina Luna, and it quoted a letter saying, “The Committee did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules or related standards of conduct.”
In the same period, the Post said the panel “didn’t ask” about Gallego’s relationships with the staffers and instead “focused squarely on what Luna presented to them,” with an insider saying “Ethics looked in the wrong place.” Newsweek and Phoenix New Times both described Gallego as refusing to address the allegations directly and repeating “I’m not going to engage in gossip,” while Phoenix New Times added that spokesperson Jacques Petit shared the same post when Phoenix New Times reached out to Gallego’s office.
Ethics, DOJ, and political fallout
The dispute over Gallego’s conduct is occurring alongside other scrutiny, including a Senate Ethics Committee dismissal tied to a complaint by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, and the New York Post said the panel was chaired by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
“I have now heard of 4 women who have had multiple and uncomfortable/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego.”
Phoenix New Times said the same day the Senate Ethics Committee closed its investigation, the Department of Justice began investigating Gallego over campaign spending, some of which he used for lavish trips, and it added that Gallego said he was being targeted by the Trump DOJ for political reasons.
The New York Post also reported that Gallego’s office and the two House staffers did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment, while it described the relationships as part of a broader “pattern of mistakes and missteps and judgment calls.”
In addition, the New York Post said Luna claimed on social media that “I have now heard of 4 women who have had multiple and uncomfortable/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego,” and it said Gallego responded to the Ethics Committee’s dismissal by calling the allegations “right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.”
Fox News tied the latest report to Gallego’s 2028 presidential bid and said the Post reported the relationships involved aides to Texas Democrats who did not work for him, noting that House rules do not bar relationships with staffers who work outside a member’s office.