No, Ruben Gallego didn’t spend campaign funds on his wedding hotel

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego has been going through it this week.

Last week, he came to the reflexive defense of Rep. Eric Swalwell, about whom sexual misconduct rumors were flying as Swalwell ran for California governor. On Friday, when legitimate news outlets published the allegations in detail, Gallego beat a speedy retreat. He acknowledged in a statement that he’d defended Swalwell too rashly and withdrew his endorsement of the California congressman. On Monday, as more damaging details about Swalwell’s behavior became public, Gallego called on Swalwell to quit Congress — mere minutes before Swalwell did just that.

Since then, Gallego has fielded questions about his relationship with Swalwell, whose short-lived presidential campaign he once chaired and whom he once described as his best friend. Seeming less than completely comfortable in front of reporters, Gallego maintains that he was aware of rumors that Swalwell was “flirty” but that he had no idea of the extent of Swalwell’s conduct with women. Some people may have found Gallego’s explanation sincere. Others, aware that Gallego has considered a presidential run in 2028, may see a man doing damage control.

In that context, another damaging report about Gallego dropped on Wednesday. The Daily Mail reported that the Democrat spent $2,000 on a Puerto Rico hotel stay at the same time he was on the island for his 2021 wedding to his second wife, Sydney. The report included screenshots of Gallego’s FEC filings showing the expenditure on June 7, 2021, at the Fairmont El San Juan. Using campaign funds for personal expenses is prohibited. Right-wing accounts on Twitter have had a field day with the story.

But Gallego denies misusing those funds. And his campaign provided Phoenix New Times with documentation showing the true nature of the charges: a down payment on a reservation for a campaign event that was held later that year.

“This is blatantly false. Senator Gallego did not get married at the Fairmont,” a campaign spokesperson said. “The Daily Mail is misrepresenting an invoice for a political retreat. The receipt says otherwise.”

A copy of Gallego’s wedding invitation provided to New Times showed he and Sydney married on June 4, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico. No charges for that hotel appear in Gallego’s campaign expenditures from 2021.

The event at the Fairmont El San Juan was a September 2021 fundraising retreat with Gallego. A solicitation provided by the campaign listed the event — a “weekend retreat in support of his re-election” — for Sept. 24 and 25 of that year at the hotel, with a suggested donation of $2,500 per person.

FEC records show that a $2,000 payment was made to the hotel on June 7 of that year, the Monday after Gallego’s wedding. Gallego’s campaign said consulting company TH Fundraising Consulting made the initial payment and was reimbursed. FEC records confirm that.

An invoice for the hotel stay — marked as being paid on Sept. 30, 2021 — shows a $2,000 deposit being transferred at check-in on Sept. 23, the day before the event. It also shows a second deposit of $7,120.96 applied at check-in. FEC records show Gallego’s campaign paid the hotel that amount on Sept. 10. The campaign was charged an additional $8,081.53 at checkout. Three other payments to the hotel listed in Gallego’s campaign finances for that year total $8,161.53. It’s not clear what accounts for the $80 difference.

The Daily Mail story also noted that Swalwell spent $1,522.11 at Gallego’s wedding hotel on June 7 of that year, three days after the wedding. It’s not clear if Swalwell has a good explanation for that.

There are plenty of legitimate questions to be asked about how aware Gallego was of Swalwell’s behavior, to what extent Gallego looked the other way, and if Gallego ever behaved similarly. The issue doesn’t seem likely to die down any time soon.

But the question of whether Gallego dropped campaign cash on his own nuptials, as the Daily Mail reported, has been answered. He didn’t.