The House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday it would investigate Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is facing sexual misconduct allegations and intense public scrutiny over how he treated a former staffer who later died by suicide.
The committee voted to establish an investigative subcommittee, announcing it would also look into allegations that Gonzales had “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.” House rules prohibit members from engaging in a “sexual relationship” with a staffer.
After the New York Post published text messages last month it said were received by the late district staffer, a handful of Gonzales’ Republican colleagues called on him to step down. But Gonzales, who has previously denied wrongdoing, told CNN he would not resign, saying, “What you’ve seen is not all the facts.”
“We don’t leap to conclusions here, whether you’re talking about Republicans or Democrats, with regard to legal processes and all of that,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week.
Johnson also said the allegations are “alarming” and that Gonzales needed to address them “directly and head on with his constituents.”
Johnson is navigating a tight majority, and a potential resignation by Gonzales would shrink that even further.
The Ethics Committee announcement comes the day after primary elections in Texas, where no candidate in Gonzales’ race reached the threshold to secure the Republican nomination. Instead, Gonzales now heads into a runoff campaign against pro-gun activist Brandon Herrera, who is challenging Gonzales from the right.
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