A Florida congresswoman accused Arizona\u2019s Ruben Gallego of misconduct, claiming without evidence that the U.S. senator was involved in an incident with former Congressman Eric Swalwell and a sex worker.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Gallego denied the accusation as \u201cright wing conspiracy theories being parroted by a far right member of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna made the claims against Gallego in an interview Thursday with CBS News.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier in the week, she issued a cryptic statement on X, claiming Senate Majority Leader John Thune needed to look into \u201cvery disturbing\u201d allegations against a senator.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n On CBS News, Luna identified Gallego as the unnamed senator, and noted his close ties to Swalwell, a California gubernatorial candidate who suspended his campaign and resigned from Congress this week amid growing backlash over allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.<\/p>\n Luna told CBS \u201cthere is a woman that allegedly is coming forward with attorneys [and] wants to go on-record about an incident that occurred between the two of them at the same time, and the event was sexual in nature, allegedly.”<\/p>\n She further accused Gallego of \u201cknowingly engaging in purchasing someone for sex.\u201d And Luna claimed, without evidence, that some allegations involved campaign finance violations.<\/p>\n Shortly before Luna\u2019s interview with CBS News, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he was aware of Luna\u2019s allegations on social media, and that the matter had been referred to the Senate\u2019s Select Committee on Ethics.<\/p>\n As for Gallego, a spokesperson said the senator \u201chas not received notification or been contacted by the ethics committee.\u201d<\/p>\n Thune\u2019s office did not immediately respond to KJZZ\u2019s request for comment on Friday.<\/p>\n Gallego has faced increased scrutiny for his friendship with Swalwell, a seven-term congressman who Gallego initially defended as rumors of sexual misconduct began to spread against the California Democrat.<\/p>\n