The Senate Ethics Committee has cleared Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., of sexual misconduct and campaign finance allegations — but the lawmaker who filed the complaint isn’t backing down.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., fired off a blistering response on X after the committee dismissed her claims, declaring: “Once a creep, always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.”
Luna filed the complaint earlier this year in the wake of former-Rep. Eric Swalwell’s scandal-filled downfall. Swalwell, a close friend of Gallego’s, resigned from the House following a bombshell San Francisco Chronicle report alleging he sexually assaulted a former staffer.
The Ethics Committee told Gallego in a letter Monday that it found no evidence supporting Luna’s allegations.
“Based on the investigation of the Committee, the Committee did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules, or related standards of conduct.”
Gallego responded with a statement calling the accusations “right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House and their allies.”
He demanded an apology from Luna for “weaponizing the ethics process” and said he’ll keep “holding Trump Republicans accountable for high costs and new wars.”
Luna wasn’t having it.
“The allegations are not conspiracy theories. You’re a gross example of representation,” she shot back on X.
Luna brought up Gallego leaving his pregnant wife during his Senate campaign and warned him to keep raising money for his legal defense fund.
“The good news about D.C. is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts. Do yourself a favor and keep raising for your legal defense fund.”
Gallego has recently faced scrutiny over a Politico report that he spent thousands in campaign cash on luxury travel, Super Bowl tickets and childcare.
The Arizona senator defended the spending, telling Politico that Democrats and Republicans in Congress “regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC.”
Gallego also addressed his friendship with Swalwell, saying the relationship “clouded my judgment” regarding rumors that swirled about the ex-lawmaker for years in Washington.
