SAN ANTONIO – The aide of U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who died last year after setting herself on fire, separated from her husband after he discovered through “sexual” text messages that she had an affair with the congressman, his attorney told KSAT Investigates Wednesday.
The alleged affair was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News, who spoke with an ex-staffer of Gonzales. The former staffer, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, provided the newspaper a text message from Regina Santos-Aviles in which she acknowledged having an “affair with our boss.”
KSAT Investigates has reviewed the text message between the ex-staffer and Santos-Aviles but has not been able to independently verify the messages were sent by her.
Santos-Aviles, 35, was the regional director for Gonzales in his Uvalde office since 2021. She died by suicide after setting herself on fire at her Uvalde home on Sept. 14.
For months, KSAT Investigates reported on the fallout from her death, and asked Gonzales and his spokesperson to respond to allegations of an affair more than 20 times.
Gonzales, 45, is married with six children, according to his Instagram profile. The district he represents — Congressional District 23 — stretches from San Antonio’s West Side to El Paso.
Attorney for Santos-Aviles’ husband alleges affair played role in her death
Bobby Barrera is the attorney for Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband. This is his first TV interview about the topic.
Barrera said Regina’s husband knew about the monthlong affair, which came to light in June 2024. The couple separated that summer because of the affair, Barrera said. The couple did not file for divorce.
Barrera said Regina’s husband discovered text messages between her and Gonzales that included him asking for photos, meeting times and locations and “things of a sexual nature.”
“The text messages clearly support that Tony was pushing her to send photos, pushing her to communicate, pushing her into this relationship,” Barrera said. “So much so that she began to question why Tony even hired her... if the communications were always centered around her attractiveness.”
KSAT asked Barrera whether he believes that the affair played a role in her death.
“Clearly,” Barrera said. “Regina taking her life is a result of the collateral consequences of the discovery of that affair. And then, after the discovery of the affair, she began to receive different treatment at work ... All of that was because Tony Gonzales encouraged, manipulated and induced her into this sexual affair as her employer.”
Barrera told KSAT that Adrian Aviles is hurt by Gonzales’ refusal to address the alleged affair, and that by doing so, Gonzales is “calling Regina a liar.”
Gonzales, who is in a contentious bid for reelection in Congressional District 23, has not responded to KSAT’s multiple requests for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Once that staffer went public with information we were trying to keep confidential, it became necessary for Adrian (Aviles) to respond publicly to the comments that were being made by Tony Gonzales in his denial of this affair,” Barrera told KSAT Investigates. “... This matter is a personal matter for Adrian and his son. For everyone else, it’s an opportunity to destroy the political career of Tony Gonzales.”
How Gonzales and his primary opponent have responded
While Gonzales hasn’t responded to KSAT’s requests, he provided a statement to the Texas Tribune on Wednesday. Gonzales stopped short of addressing whether he had a romantic relationship with her, but said “Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place.”
“It’s shameful that (Republican challenger) Brandon Herrera is using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points, conveniently pushing this out the very day early voting started,” Gonzales told the Texas Tribune. “I am not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.”
Herrera, who is running against Gonzales in the Republican primary, responded to the allegations on X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday morning.
“This is completely unacceptable behavior for anyone, let along (sic) a sitting member of Congress,” Herrera posted. “Tony must step down.”
Gonzales did not publicly comment on Santos’ death last year until KSAT asked him about it days later.
In a statement provided to KSAT Investigates, Gonzales said he was “heartstricken.”
The congressman has not made himself available to KSAT journalists since then. Gonzales has repeatedly refused interviews and questions from KSAT since her death, most recently refusing to answer questions in November.
KSAT and other media outlets were barred from an event Gonzales was set to appear at just days after Santos-Aviles’ death.
The Daily Mail and multiple national outlets reported in September that Gonzales and Santos-Aviles were having an affair, which they said began after she joined the office in 2021.
Days later, at the Texas Tribune Festival, the congressman said he did not know “exactly what happened” in Santos-Aviles’ death.
“... The rumors are completely untruthful,” Gonzales said, but he did not specify what rumors he alluded to. KSAT’s request for clarification went unanswered.
“For him (Tony) to deny publicly what he and his staffers knew to be the truth says a lot about his character,” Barrera told KSAT Investigates.
Santos-Aviles’ death was caught on one of her security cameras, according to Uvalde police.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office denied a request from KSAT and other media outlets for records related to the investigation into Santos-Aviles’ death.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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