SAN ANTONIO – Records obtained by KSAT Investigates show several sexually explicit text messages were sent between U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales and his former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles.
The texts, shared Monday by Adrian Aviles — Santos-Aviles’ husband — support his claims of an alleged affair between the congressman and Santos-Aviles.
The former staffer died on Sept. 14 after investigators said she doused herself in gasoline and set herself on fire at her Uvalde home. KSAT Investigates first reported on Santos-Aviles’ death last year.
Bobby Barrera, Adrian Aviles’ attorney, told KSAT last week Regina’s husband knew about the monthlong affair, which he said came to light in June 2024.
The couple separated that summer because of the affair, Barrera said, but they did not file for divorce.
KSAT Investigates also reached out to Gonzales’ office twice for comment Monday, and more than two dozen times since September. So far, there has been no response.
What’s in the text messages
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.”
Aviles provided KSAT nine screenshots of text messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles.
The messages in those screenshots were allegedly shared between the two just after midnight on May 9, 2024.
In the first text, at 12:15 a.m., Gonzales asked Santos-Aviles for a “sexy pic.”
“I swear my life has been a Telenovela for the past seven days,” Santos-Aviles responded at 12:19 a.m. “You don’t really want a hot picture of me.”
“Yes I do,” Gonzales wrote at 12:20 a.m. “Hurry.”
Santos-Aviles’ rejection attempts
According to the messages, Santos-Aviles appeared to attempt shooting down Gonzales’ request for more intimate photos.
“Is this a test?” Santos-Aviles wrote back at 12:22 a.m.
Five minutes later, she texted the congressman she doesn’t “like taking pictures of myself.”
“I’m just such a visual person,” Gonzales wrote back seconds later. “Sorry.”
Questions about sex acts
Twenty minutes later, according to the texts Aviles shared, Gonzales asked Santos-Aviles about her “favorite” sexual act.
“Yours first?” Santos-Aviles responded at 12:48 a.m. “So is that why you’re quiet around me because you think I’m hot.”
Gonzales then described the act to Santos-Aviles in graphic, specific detail.
“This is going too far, boss,” Santos-Aviles wrote back at 12:50 a.m. “So how long have you thought I was this hot?”
“Since you worked at the (Uvalde Area) chamber (of Commerce),” Gonzales texted back at 12:50 a.m.
According to Santos-Aviles’ LinkedIn page and previous media reports, she left her position as executive director of the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce in November 2021 to serve as the regional director for Gonzales’ office in Uvalde.
Gonzales then asked Santos-Aviles about another specific sex act.
“Never,” Santos-Aviles responded. “This is too far, Tony.”
A deleted message
Santos-Aviles appeared to share a text message with Gonzales before eventually deleting it.
“What did you delete?” Gonzales asked her at 12:52 a.m.
“You should’ve read it,” Santos-Aviles responded seconds later.
“True,” Gonzales wrote back. “I’m slow.”
“Go to sleep are you sure your (sic) sober?” Santos-Aviles responded.
“Yes,” Gonzales said.
At 12:54 a.m., Santos-Aviles then directly replied to Gonzales’ 12:50 a.m. text when he referred to his interest in her beginning with her time with the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Please tell me you didn’t just hire me because I was hot,” Santos-Aviles wrote.
“No way,” Gonzales texted back.
The final screenshot
Aviles also shared a 10th screenshot of a text message he sent from Santos-Aviles’ phone to Gonzales and several other staffers on June 1, 2024.
“Just a heads up this is Adrian Aviles, Regina’s soon to be ex-husband,” the text read. “I just wanted to inform all of you that we will be getting a divorced (sic) after my discovery of text messages and pictures, that’s she been having an affair on me with you boss Tony Gonzales for some time now. Feel free if you want more of an explanation.”
Background
On Feb. 18, Barrera told KSAT Investigates Santos-Aviles separated from Aviles after her husband discovered the messages between her and Gonzales.
One day later, Gonzales defended himself on social media.
“I WILL NOT BE BLACKMAILED,” Gonzales wrote in a social media post caption. “Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death. The public should IMMEDIATELY have full access to the Uvalde Police report. I will keep fighting for #TX23."
Gonzales’ Feb. 19 post did not address the allegations of a romantic relationship with Santos-Aviles.
The Office of Congressional Conduct opened an ethics investigation into Gonzales months before affair allegations became public, Barrera also confirmed to KSAT Investigates last week.
The investigation began just weeks after Rep. Gonzales dodged KSAT Investigates’ questions about the affair allegations, first reported by The Daily Mail, on Nov. 11.
Brandon Herrera, a Republican challenger for the congressional seat, responded to Gonzales’ Feb. 19 post, saying he is “guilty and should resign.”
In an early Sunday morning post to X, Gonzales characterized the story as a “coordinated political attack” days before the March 3 primary.
“During my six years in Congress not a single formal complaint has been levied against my office,” Gonzales wrote. “IT WONT WORK.”
Aviles responded to Gonzales’ post several hours later. He described the congressman as a “homewrecking, perverted, sick man” and called on President Donald Trump to pull his endorsement of him.
“This isn’t ‘coordinated political attacks.’ This is exposing the real Tony Gonzales,” Aviles wrote. “This is tragedy you helped create, and you refuse to own it.”
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Gonzales must address the “accusations” with his constituents.
“It is my understanding there’s an investigation in the State of Texas on these matters and has been going on for some time. The Office of Congressional Conduct, it has been reported, they’ve been looking at it. All of that was news to me,” Johnson said. “I think, as in every case like this, you have to allow the investigations to play out and all the facts to come out. I’ve been intellectually consistent about this, whether you’re talking about Republicans and Democrats. You have to let the system play out.”
Lauren Boebert, a Republican U.S. Representative from Colorado, also called for Gonzales’ resignation in a Monday social media post.
The Uvalde Police Department on Monday released the report made by officers who responded to Santos-Aviles’ home.
Gonzales is currently campaigning for reelection in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which stretches from the West Side of San Antonio to El Paso.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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