2026年2月23日 / 美国东部时间晚上8:53 / CBS新闻
一份新披露的2024年短信交流记录似乎显示，托尼·冈萨雷斯议员曾鼓励他的一名助手给他发送露骨照片——这导致助手雷吉娜·桑托斯-阿维莱斯（Regina Santos-Aviles）表示反对。一年多后，这名工作人员自焚身亡。
这些短信让这位得克萨斯州共和党人受到了更多审视，他现在正因涉嫌与桑托斯-阿维莱斯发生不正当关系而面临两党批评。上周，该工作人员丈夫的律师向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News）声称，冈萨雷斯胁迫桑托斯-阿维莱斯建立性关系。冈萨雷斯过去否认了这一指控，并声称自己正被勒索。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻获得了一组从桑托斯-阿维莱斯手机中提取的短信，这些短信显示了冈萨雷斯与已故工作人员之间的对话。
这段对话发生在2024年5月初的午夜之后，冈萨雷斯要求对方发送一张”性感照片”。经过一番来回沟通，桑托斯-阿维莱斯表示她不喜欢自拍。他回复了两条短信：”我就是个视觉型的人”和”抱歉”。
随后，议员又问桑托斯-阿维莱斯她”最喜欢的姿势是什么”。她让他先回答，他照做了。
助手随后发短信说：”老板，这太过分了。你觉得我这么迷人有多久了？”
又经过一番来回，桑托斯-阿维莱斯再次表示：”托尼，这太过分了。”
桑托斯-阿维莱斯后来对冈萨雷斯说：”请告诉我，你雇佣我不是因为我很迷人。”
“不可能，”冈萨雷斯回复道。
据桑托斯-阿维莱斯的丈夫阿德里安·阿维莱斯（Adrian Aviles）此前向《圣安东尼奥快报》透露，那次交流几周后，他得知了两人所谓的关系。
而在接下来的一个月，阿维莱斯似乎从桑托斯-阿维莱斯的手机向冈萨雷斯和他办公室的其他几名工作人员发送了一条短信。在那条短信中，他写道，他发现”她和你的老板托尼·冈萨雷斯有段时间一直背着我出轨”。
阿维莱斯的律师博比·巴雷拉（Bobby Barrera）上周告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，在与冈萨雷斯所谓的关系结束后，桑托斯-阿维莱斯的心理健康状况急剧恶化——他将此归咎于议员的行为。
据当地警察局称，桑托斯-阿维莱斯于2025年9月在得克萨斯州乌瓦尔德（Uvalde）的家附近被发现严重烧伤后死亡。贝克斯县法医办公室根据哥伦比亚广播公司附属机构KENS的报道，裁定其死因为自杀。
她自杀的具体情况尚不清楚。
阿维莱斯周一接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示，他希望反驳冈萨雷斯对这段关系的否认，并证明”这不是编造的事情”。
“你因为你的掠夺性本能毁了一个家庭，”阿维莱斯说，他与桑托斯-阿维莱斯育有一个8岁的儿子。
随着这位议员争取连任，有关冈萨雷斯所谓关系的新细节逐渐浮出水面。他位于美国-墨西哥边境的选区被认为是共和党的安全席位，但冈萨雷斯下周将面临来自枪支权利活动家布兰登·埃雷拉（Brandon Herrera）的初选挑战——埃雷拉在2024年以不到400票的差距输给了冈萨雷斯。总统特朗普已支持冈萨雷斯。埃雷拉上周呼吁冈萨雷斯辞职。
在2024年短信交流记录于周一曝光后，少数共和党国会议员批评了冈萨雷斯。
科罗拉多州的众议员劳伦·博伯特（Lauren Boebert）敦促冈萨雷斯辞职，并暗示众议院共和党竞选机构应该开始在财务上支持埃雷拉。南卡罗来纳州的南希·梅斯（Nancy Mace）议员周一也表示，冈萨雷斯应该辞职，称这些指控”令人深感不安”且是”权力滥用”。乔治亚州前众议员玛乔丽·泰勒·格林（Marjorie Taylor Greene）则称这一报道”令人震惊和恶心”。
埃雷拉周一还获得了得克萨斯州共和党议员奇普·罗伊（Chip Roy）和与众议院强硬右翼自由党团成员结盟的政治行动委员会”自由党团基金”（Freedom Caucus Fund）的支持。这两项支持都没有提及冈萨雷斯。
众议院议长迈克·约翰逊（Mike Johnson）周一告诉记者，针对冈萨雷斯的指控”非常严重”，但他表示”必须让调查过程完成”。
冈萨雷斯在11月否认了不正当关系，他在奥斯汀举行的得克萨斯论坛节（Texas Tribune Festival）小组活动中表示，”这些谣言完全不真实”。
这位议员还在上周指责巴雷拉试图敲诈他。他在社交平台X上分享了巴雷拉的一封信的截图，信中律师似乎提出以30万美元的法律和解金加保密协议的方式解决问题。
“看到有人从一场悲剧性死亡中在政治和经济上获利，真是令人作呕，”冈萨雷斯写道。
巴雷拉否认了这一指控，他上周向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，这实际上是一封发给该议员律师的标准保密和解信。
阿维莱斯告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，”这不是为了钱的诡计。”
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻已联系冈萨雷斯的办公室寻求置评。
朱莉格雷丝·布鲁夫克（Juliegrace Brufke）和安妮·布赖森（Anne Bryson）对本报道有贡献。
Texts show Rep. Tony Gonzales sent explicit messages to staffer who later died by suicide: “This is going too far boss”
February 23, 2026 / 8:53 PM EST / CBS News
A newly revealed 2024 text exchange appears to show that Rep. Tony Gonzales encouraged one of his aides to send him an explicit photo — leading the aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, to push back. Just over a year later, the staffer died after setting herself on fire.
The texts have drawn additional scrutiny to the Texas Republican, who is now facing bipartisan criticism over his alleged affair with Santos-Aviles. An attorney for the staffer’s husband alleged to CBS News last week that Gonzales coerced Santos-Aviles into a sexual relationship. Gonzales has denied the affair in the past, and has claimed he is being extorted.
CBS News has obtained a set of texts that were extracted from Santos-Aviles’ phone that show a conversation between Gonzales and the late staffer.
In the exchange, which took place after midnight in early May 2024, Gonzales asked for a “sexy pic.” After a back-and-forth, Santos-Aviles said she didn’t like taking photos of herself. He responded in a pair of texts: “I’m just such a visual person” and “Sorry.”
The congressman then asked Santos-Aviles what her “favorite position” is. She asked him to answer first, and he did.
The aide then texted: “This is going too far boss. So how long have you thought I was this hot?”
After another back-and-forth, Santos-Aviles said again: “This is too far, Tony.”
Santos-Aviles later said to Gonzales: “Please tell me you didn’t just hire me because I was hot.”
“No way,” Gonzales writes.
Several weeks after that exchange, Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, learned about their alleged relationship, he previously told the San Antonio Express-News.
Then, the following month, Aviles appeared to send a text from Santos-Aviles’ phone to Gonzales and several other staffers in his office. In that message, he wrote that he’d discovered “she’s been having an affair on me with your boss Tony Gonzales for some time now.”
Aviles’ lawyer, Bobby Barrera, told CBS News last week that Santos-Aviles’ mental health declined sharply following the end of her alleged relationship with Gonzales — something he blamed on the congressman’s conduct.
Santos-Aviles died in September 2025 after she was found critically burned near her home in Uvalde, Texas, according to the local police department. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide, according to CBS affiliate KENS.
The circumstances leading up to her suicide are not clear.
In an interview with CBS News on Monday, Aviles said he wants to rebut Gonzales’ denials of the affair and to demonstrate that “this is not something that’s been fabricated.”
“You ended a family because of your predatorial instincts,” said Aviles, who has an 8-year-old son with Santos-Aviles.
The new details about Gonzales’ alleged relationship are coming to light as the congressman fights for reelection. His district along the U.S.-Mexico border is considered a safe GOP seat, but Gonzales is facing a primary challenge next week from gun rights activist Brandon Herrera, who lost to Gonzales by fewer than 400 votes in 2024. President Trump has endorsed Gonzales. Herrera called for Gonzales to step down last week.
A handful of congressional Republicans criticized Gonzales after the 2024 text exchange emerged on Monday.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado urged Gonzales to resign and suggested that House Republicans’ campaign arm should start financially supporting Herrera. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also said Monday that Gonzales should resign, calling the allegations “deeply disturbing” and an “abuse of power.” And former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called the story “shocking and disgusting.”
Herrera also drew endorsements Monday from Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and the Freedom Caucus Fund, a political action committee aligned with members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. Neither endorsement mentioned Gonzales.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday that the allegations against Gonzales are “very serious,” but he said “you have to allow investigations to play out.”
Gonzales denied having an affair in November, saying in a panel event at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin that the “rumors are completely untruthful.”
The congressman also accused Barrera of trying to blackmail him last week. He shared on X a screenshot of a letter from Barrera in which the lawyer appears to propose a $300,000 legal settlement with a non-disclosure agreement.
“Disgusting to see people profit politically and financially off a tragic death,” Gonzales wrote.
Barrera denied that allegation, claiming to CBS News last week that it was actually a standard confidential settlement letter sent to the congressman’s attorney.
Aviles told CBS News, “This is not a ploy for money.”
CBS News has reached out to Gonzales’ office for comment.
Juliegrace Brufke and Anne Bryson contributed to this report.