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Republicans are rallying around a fellow GOP lawmaker who had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide.<\/p>
Yes, multiple Republicans either refused to call for Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas to resign or flat out admitted that he should stay in Congress because kicking him out would hurt their chances at keeping their narrow majority.<\/p>
They said this even after text messages were made public<\/a>, showing Gonzales pressuring aide Regina Ann Santos-Aviles\u2014who later died by self-immolation\u2014to send him sexual photos of herself and asking if she liked “anal,” even after she pushed back and said that he was going “too far.”<\/p> Gonzales\u2019 fellow Texas Republican,Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), told<\/a> CNN that resigning would be \u201cthe stupidest thing he could ever do\u201d because “if he does that, then you gotta give the gavel to Hakeem Jeffries, and I’m sure the Democrats would love that.”<\/p> Of course, that is not the case. Republicans would still hold a 217-214 majority<\/a>. But it would be hard, if not impossible, to pass legislation given that GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky often votes against must-pass Republican legislation. <\/p> A number of other Republicans made similar comments<\/a> to MS NOW, but like the cowards they all are, they refused to put their names behind such a disgusting admission.\u201cThey can\u2019t lose a single vote, and so members almost seem untouchable right now,\u201d an unnamed House Republican told the outlet.<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s a game of numbers and we\u2019re in a losing battle,\u201d another unnamed House Republican said. \u201cAnyone who is remotely considering leaving right now would be able to use that as an incredible bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p> And a third unnamed House Republican told MS-NOW that, while the allegations against Gonzales are “a really ugly situation,\u201d Republicans can’t “afford” to hold him accountable until the “numbers get better.”<\/p> Gross is an understatement.Other cowardly Republicans refused to comment publicly on what they think Gonzales should do.<\/p> \u201cI\u2019m not going to get ahead of the speaker on this,” Rep. Richard Hudson (R_NC), chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told<\/a> Punchbowl News. “The speaker said publicly that Tony needs to respond to the allegations.”<\/p> And John Cornyn, the Republican senior senator from Texas, also refused to call on Gonzales to resign.<\/p> “I\u2019ve got my own race to run. I\u2019ll let the speaker deal with that,” he told<\/a> Semafor <\/em>reporter Burgess Everett, referring to his uphill primary battle<\/a> against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p> To be sure, there are some<\/em> Republicans calling on<\/a> Gonzales to resign\u2014most of them women who say that Gonzales\u2019 behavior is disgusting and unacceptable.But the most important House Republican of them all\u2014Speaker Mike Johnson\u2014said that Gonzales deserves due process and therefore shouldn’t step down.<\/p> Of course, as long as the text messages are legitimate, there\u2019s no doubt that what Gonzales did violated House ethics rules, which clearly state<\/a> that members of Congress are barred from having sexual relationships with aides.<\/p> “Send me a sexy pic,\u201d Gonzales texted<\/a> Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide after reports said that she had been sidelined by staff<\/a> due to her sexual relationship with their boss.<\/p> \u201cYou don’t really want a hot picture of me,\u201d she responded.<\/p> “Yes I do,\u201d Gonzales said. “Hurry.”<\/p> Santos-Avile\u2019s response made it clear that she was trying to shut down his advances.<\/p> \u201cNo, I just don’t like taking pictures of myself,\u201d she said.<\/p> What Gonzales did is despicable. But Republicans won’t punish him, just as they won\u2019t punish<\/a> President Donald Trump, who has been credibly accused<\/a> of sexual assault by multiple women.<\/p>\r\n
house republicans, mike johnson, troy nehls, texas republicans, tony gonzales\r\n
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