MAGA Lawmakers Want Congress’ Sexual Harassment Secrets Exposed

Taxpayers have footed more $19 million in settlements to Capitol Hill employees since 1997 — but details about the claims are scant Transparency MAGA Lawmakers Want Congress’ Sexual Harassment Secrets Exposed Taxpayers have footed more $19 million in settlements to Capitol Hill employees since 1997 — but details about the claims are scant By Tessa Stuart Tessa Stuart Contact Tessa Stuart on X MAGA Lawmakers Call for Republican to Resign Following Release of Disturbing Texts In ‘Neighbors,’ America’s Problem Isn’t Politics. It’s Personal Obama Denies Knowledge of Extraterrestrial Contact But Says Aliens Are ‘Real’ View all posts by Tessa Stuart March 3, 2026 Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images “Please send help. It hurts so bad,” Regina Santos-Aviles told a police dispatcher the night she set herself on fire. Standing in her backyard on September 13, 2025, Santos-Aviles had doused herself in gasoline then used a lighter to ignite the flames, according to a fire department report. The 35-year-old mom was airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio, where she was pronounced dead. For the four years leading up to her death, Santos-Aviles had worked as the regional director of Congressman Tony Gonzales’ district office in Uvalde, Texas. In the spring of 2024, text messages recently released by her family show, the Republican repeatedly pressured his aide for “sexy” photos and quizzed her about her favorite sexual positions, even as Santos-Aviles resisted his advances and told him he was going “too far.” The fallout from the subsequent affair was swift and total for Santos-Aviles. Her husband found out and broadcast his knowledge of it in a text sent to Gonzales and seven of her coworkers. She was ostracized at work, as her husband ended their 21-year relationship and moved out of their home. Santos-Aviles’ mental health deteriorated, people close to her said, even as she remained in her job until her death a year and a half later. In November, the Office of Congressional Conduct opened an inquiry into Gonzales’ conduct — an inquiry the Texas congressman has reportedly refused to cooperate with. Per House protocol, the findings of that investigation will remain secret, even if they are deemed serious enough to refer to the House Ethics Committee. The publication last week of Gonzales’ text messages with Santos-Aviles has set off a chorus of calls not just for Gonzales to abandon his reelection bid and give up his seat in Congress, but for a total overhaul of a system that protects members of Congress accused of harassing their staff, while keeping the details of that harassment hidden from public scrutiny — even when the incidents are deemed serious enough to warrant a taxpayer-funded payout. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century Those calls are being led by Gonzales’ female colleagues, including Congresswomen Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who say his behavior is illustrative of a pervasive sexual harassment problem on the Hill. Mace last week introduced a resolution that would force the Ethics Committee to “publicly release all reports, conclusions, draft reports, recommendations, and accompanying materials” of House members accused of violating House rules prohibiting sexual harassment. Luna and Boebert are co-sponsoring the resolution, which Mace plans to force a vote on this week. “These people need to be called out for their behavior. I don’t care if they have an R or a D by their name. They need to suffer the consequences,” Mace tells Rolling Stone. “Women are not second-class citizens. We have rights, and we have the right to be respected by our colleagues. Women on the Hill have the right to work in a safe work environment and not be harassed in any way, shape or form.” “One of the problems — and this is a bipartisan problem — is that when stuff like this happens, people don’t want to call out the crap in their own party,” Luna adds. Gonzales’ texts to Santos-Aviles, Mace says, were “deeply offensive, shameful, worth a resignation — and worth questioning why this wasn’t addressed months ago, when leadership knew about it.” It’s unclear when House Speaker Mike Johnson, who endorsed Gonzales’ reelection bid in August, before Santos-Aviles death, first became aware of the congressman’s apparent harassment of his staffer or their alleged affair, but Johnson has refused to join members of his caucus as they demand Gonzales’ resignation. Related Content 'F-ck You': Nancy Mace Loses It in Public Argument With Constituent Right-Wingers Bash Anti-Trans Lawmaker for Unwittingly Touting DEI Advocacy Group Calls B.S. on Nancy Mace's Claim That She Was Assaulted in Capitol Bathroom Obsessive Nan