{"id":170990,"date":"2026-02-19T07:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/170990\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T07:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:06:41","slug":"husand-of-rep-tony-gonzales-aide-breaks-silence-on-her-affair-with-texas-pol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/170990\/","title":{"rendered":"Husand of Rep. Tony Gonzales aide breaks silence on her affair with Texas pol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) \u201cabused his power\u201d when he allegedly had an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles<\/a>, who later fatally set herself on fire, the woman\u2019s husband said Wednesday in his first public remarks about the tragedy.<\/p>\n

Adrian Aviles argued that the married congressman should be held accountable for becoming romantically involved with his wife, a subordinate of Gonzales who was reportedly iced out by the Texas Republican after the alleged affair was exposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said the truth would come to light when it\u2019s time, and the time is now,\u201d Aviles said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News<\/a>. \u201cTony abused his power. He should have held himself to a higher standard as a congressional leader.<\/p>\n

Adrian, with wife Regina Santos-Aviles, said that Rep. Tony Gonzales \u201cabused his power. He should have held himself to a higher standard as a congressional leader.\u201d
\n Facebook<\/p>\n

Gonzales told The Post Wednesday that he was \u201cnot 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congressman Tony Gonzalez<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that Tony will stand up and be accountable for his actions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Aviles, 40, explained that he discovered the alleged affair on the night of May 31, 2024, when he returned home from a jiu-jitsu class and noticed Santos-Aviles texting Gonzales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of looked over her shoulder, and I saw that she was texting Tony,\u201d Aviles recalled.<\/p>\n

When he questioned her about the messages, his wife told him, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to like what you see.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking the phone away from his wife and leaving the house, Aviles said he found texts from Gonzales to Santos-Aviles that were \u201cvery sexual in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

It appeared that Gonzales had been having an affair with Santos-Aviles for at least two weeks, the husband said.\u00a0The affair\u00a0led to the couple\u2019s separation a few months later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sept. 13, 2025, Santos-Aviles covered herself in gasoline<\/a> before lighting herself ablaze in the backyard of her Uvalde, Texas, home. The 35-year-old mother of one\u00a0died of her injuries the following day.<\/p>\n

Gonzales and Santos-Aviles pictured with Elon Musk during his Sept. 28, 2023, visit to a migrant processing site in Eagle Pass, Texas.
\n James Keivom<\/p>\n

Aviles said he\u2019s speaking out now because he \u201ccouldn\u2019t bear to sit by\u201d and listen to Gonzales \u201clie on my wife\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n

He accused Gonzales of \u201cdenying the fact that he\u2019s ruined somebody\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe talks with two tongues. The Bible says to stay away from people who talk with two tongues,\u201d Aviles said of the congressman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzales has previously cast the affair allegations as \u201cpeople throwing rocks at me, saying I\u2019m doing nasty things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he rumors are completely untruthful,\u201d he told\u00a0local station KSAT in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Santos-Aviles covered herself in gasoline before lighting herself ablaze in the backyard of her Uvalde, Texas, home on Sept. 13, 2025. The 35-year-old mother of one died of her injuries the following day.<\/p>\n

Regina Santos Aviles \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Gonzales did not deny that he had an affair with\u00a0Santos-Aviles in a statement provided to The Post on Wednesday,\u00a0before the San Antonio Express-News published its interview with Aviles.<\/p>\n

The congressman said he was \u201cnot 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place,\u201d he said. \u201cHer efforts led to improvements in school safety, healthcare, and rural water like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shameful that [primary rival] 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,\u201d the lawmaker added.<\/p>\n

Adrian and Regina Santos-Aviles in an undated photo.
\n Adrian Aviles \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Gonzales\u2019 statement was in response to a text message Santos-Aviles sent a colleague on April 28, 2025, in which she appeared to acknowledge the tryst.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had [an] affair with our boss and I\u2019m fine,\u201d Santos-Aviles wrote, according to a screenshot of the exchange obtained by The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The colleague, a former Gonzales aide, also told the Express-News that Santos-Aviles \u201cwent from the number one employee in the office to nothing\u201d after Aviles exposed the alleged affair in a group text to the congressman\u2019s staff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzales reportedly canceled meetings arranged by Santos-Aviles, who worked as his regional director, and she no longer accompanied him on trips.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santos-Aviles\u2019 former colleague said concerns about the woman\u2019s mental well-being were raised at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aviles told the local outlet that he urged his wife to quit working for Gonzales after discovering the damning texts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had [an] affair with our boss and I\u2019m fine,\u201d Santos-Aviles wrote to a colleague, according to a screenshot of the exchange obtained by The Post.\u00a0 Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest thing is, I wanted her to leave the job,\u201d he said, noting that his wife was reluctant because she felt responsible for the communities she served.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aviles revealed Gonzales was among the people texted when he discovered the alleged affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happened, they black-sheeped her,\u201d he said. \u201cThey severed communications with her. They gave her a month off. They\u2019re essentially trying to push her out \u2026 and make her quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santos-Aviles, who had no history of mental health issues, \u201cstarted spiraling\u201d in the months after Aviles discovered the affair, becoming \u201cnoticeably depressed\u201d and \u201clost,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She threatened to kill herself one month before her death, according to her husband.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tony Gonzales with his wife Angel. Facebook \/ Congressman Tony Gonzales<\/p>\n

\u201cShe cried wolf,\u201d Aviles said, noting that police were called but found \u201cnothing of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the night Santos-Aviles self-immolated, she texted her husband, apparently seeking to reconcile.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe reached out to me, told me she loved me, and that, you know, she wanted to work things out,\u201d Aviles said. \u201cShe wanted her family back.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also sent a video she recorded to one of Aviles\u2019 friends. Aviles\u00a0declined to get into detail about the video other than to note it concerned him, told the outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aviles said after receiving the messages, he reached out to his mother-in-law, asking her to check in on her daughter, but by the time she did, it was too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that it was an intentional act,\u201d he said of his wife\u2019s suicide. \u201cI think it was a cry for help. It was a cry for help that turned into a tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe that she knew what she was doing. I don\u2019t believe that she knew the true ramifications.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24\/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to\u00a0SuicidePreventionLifeline.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) \u201cabused his power\u201d when he allegedly had an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[69098,2671,27963,287,2424,33808,27,29,28,12521,734],"class_list":{"0":"post-170990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-affairs","9":"tag-congress","10":"tag-lawmakers","11":"tag-politics","12":"tag-republicans","13":"tag-scandals","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-texas-headlines","16":"tag-texas-news","17":"tag-us-house-of-representatives","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}