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If Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego thought the heat under his seat was about to fade, he was wrong.
On Monday, Gallego got a bit of good news. The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint against Gallego that rather inspecifically accused the Arizona senator of “campaign finance violations and inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature,” per a committee letter. The allegation, brought forward by far-right Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, came on the heels of the resignation of Gallego’s friend and colleague California Rep. Eric Swalwell due to sexual misconduct allegations.
In April, when Luna made the allegations, Gallego blasted the complaint as a political hit job by extreme allies of President Donald Trump and welcomed an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee. In a letter dated June 26 and publicized Monday, the ethics committee tossed the case, writing to Gallego that “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.” The letter added that the committee appreciated Gallego’s “full cooperation” with the investigation.
In a press release, Gallego celebrated his vindication.
“The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies,” he wrote. “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families. In the meantime, I will continue fighting for Arizonans and holding Trump Republicans accountable for high costs and new wars.”
(Luna did not apologize. Instead, she doubled down, tweeting at Gallego that “there are plenty of people who know about your antics. The good news about DC is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts.”)
Gallego’s valedictory feeling may not have lasted long, however. Also on Monday, Axios reported that the Department of Justice had opened a probe into Gallego for “suspected campaign finance violations.”
Gallego has faced heightened scrutiny over his campaign expenditures, with several outlets digging into his Federal Election Commission filings. One story, from The Daily Mail, misleadingly suggested that Gallego spent campaign money on his wedding, which was not true. But last week, Politico reported that Gallego had spent wads of campaign cash on luxury hotel stays and travel, nominally for campaign events. Gallego defended those expenditures by saying he is one of the “least wealthy” members of Congress and that he had to pay for childcare while campaigning. He also argued that fundraising is a necessary part of his job and that ritzy locations tend to have the donors with the deepest pockets.
It’s not clear if the DOJ is looking into those specific expenses, which included trips to Disney theme parks and tickets to the Super Bowl. But campaign finance law grants candidates fairly wide latitude in using those funds. Additionally, Trump has notably sicced his DOJ on his political enemies and has conspicuously come up short on numerous occasions, including in the DOJ’s attempt to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey. The Trump administration also has been stymied in its attempts to demote senior Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran, over a video he made urging military service members to reject unlawful orders.
In a statement to Phoenix New Times, Gallego spokesperson Jacques Petit said the DOJ probe was merely a political stunt against an ideological enemy.
“Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption that’s raising costs for families, and instead targeting anyone who gets in their way — like the Federal Reserve, members of Congress doing their oversight duty, and now Senator Gallego,” Petit wrote. “It’s the least surprising news of the week that this comes immediately after the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Senator Gallego of right-wing smears pushed by the administration weeks ago. This administration may be obsessed with abusing taxpayer dollars to silence critics, but Senator Gallego will not take his eye off the ball and will continue holding Washington Republicans accountable for rising costs and new wars.”
Being targeted by the Trump administration has only helped Kelly’s prospects as a 2028 presidential contender. Whether the same will be true for Gallego — who also has 2028 aspirations, but whose ties to Swalwell are a weight around his neck — remains to be seen.
