The pressure of being publicly exposed led Tony Gonzales, representative for Texas, to admit that he had an affair with a member of his staff who, when the incident came to light, could not withstand the harassment to force her to resign, nor The fact that she had been unfaithful to her husband, which—according to the testimony of another former employee of the congressman—led her to set herself on fire to take her own life.

The scandal surrounding the 45-year-old Republican arose from information published by the San Antonio Express-News, regarding the testimony of a former employee of Gonzales' district office who, on condition of anonymity, stated that an affair between Regina Ann Santos-Aviles and the Republican politician was the determining factor in her decision to take her own life in September of last year.

According to a report from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, Regina self-immolated.

Months after this incident, Adrian Aviles, widower of the former employee who managed Uvalde's regional office for Gonzales, demanded the congressman's resignation and sanctions from the authorities for allegedly having exerted psychological pressure on the 35-year-old woman to resign when their affair came to light.

“When that happened, they made her the black sheep. They cut off communication with her. They gave her a month off. They were basically trying to push her to leave… and resign.

I said the truth would come out when the time was right, and the time is now. Tony abused his power,” the outraged husband stated in an interview with the aforementioned newspaper.

In this regard, the House of Representatives' code of conduct prohibits members from having sexual relations with staff members, andAs the Tony Gonzales case gained prominence, the House Ethics Committee announced the start of an investigation to uncover the truth. Aware of the trouble ahead, during an appearance on "The Joe Pags Show" podcast, the 45-year-old Republican described his infidelity as a mistake, one he deeply regrets. "I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I've reconciled with my wife, Angel. I asked God for forgiveness, and He granted it, and my faith is stronger than ever. When you make mistakes like this, you know it's never easy. It makes you humble, but it's important to overcome it," he said. As a result of this scandal, Gonzales was unable to defeat YouTuber Brandon Herrera in the recent Texas primaries and will now have to compete in a runoff election in May to be re-elected as a representative.