Two months after his alleged mistress doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire, Congressman Tony Gonzales finally addressed cheating accusations with his former aide for the first time.
Appearing Thursday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, the Republican lawmaker who represents the border and San Antonio denied he had a relationship with his former regional director Regina Aviles.
‘The rumors are completely untruthful. I am generally untrusting of these outlets,’ Gonzales said to reporter.
‘Regina’s family has asked for privacy. If it was your family or any of our families, I would argue that you would want privacy as well. I don’t know exactly what happened. Nobody has contacted me. I haven’t contacted anyone. I’m waiting for a final report. I think that would make a lot of sense.’
Daily Mail was first to report that Aviles’ death has been ruled a suicide, after she doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire at her Uvalde, Texas home on September 13.
Even though her death has been ruled a suicide by self-immolation, the medical examiner’s office in Bexar County told Daily Mail it would be a few more weeks before a final report and autopsy on Aviles’ death is available.
Sources who spoke with the Daily Mail on the condition of anonymity said that Aviles and the married congressman became romantically involved after she joined his staff in November 2021.
Gonzales’s spokesman didn’t engage when repeatedly offered the opportunity to deny the affair by the Daily Mail. But his office did offer a comment.
‘Regina Aviles was a kind soul who had a lasting impact on her community, which she continued to serve until her untimely death,’ a spokesman for Gonzales told the Daily Mail on October 7.
Congressman Tony Gonzales hosted Elon Musk in September 2023 as he toured the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. His staffer, Regina Aviles, can been seen on the right of Musk. Congressman Gonzales denied having an affair with Aviles on Thursday
‘To see political bottom feeders distort the circumstances around her passing is truly sickening. Tony Gonzales remains laser-focused on delivering historic achievements for Texas and condemns any attempts to misuse this tragedy.’
One source told the Daily Mail that their relationship continued ‘for some time’ and that Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, was aware of the relationship at the time of her death.
Two additional, separate sources also confirmed the alleged relationship with Gonzales.
Gonzales also would not answer questions from San Antonio station KSAT earlier this week when they approached him at a public event on Veterans Day – which the media was invited to.
In the days right after Aviles’ passing, Gonzales’s office uninvited local reporters to events that had already been cleared for.
When a reporter approached him, he cut her off, saying, ‘It’s Veterans Day. It’s Veterans Day. I hope we’re talking about veterans stuff.
‘If you’re not, you should. It’s a beautiful, it’s a beautiful Veterans Day here in San Antonio.’
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, walks down the House steps after a vote in the Capitol on Friday, September 30, 2022
Aviles’s mother, Nora Gonzales, described the incident as a tragic accident and said her daughter’s final words were: ‘I don’t want to die,’ according to the San Antonio Express News
She was found engulfed in flames at her Uvalde home (above) on September 13. Investigators determined she was home alone at the time
When reporter Daniela Ibarra asked him if he had an affair with Aviles, Gonzales responded,
‘We’re here at Fort Sam Houston for a ceremony. Please have some respect,’ he said as he walked away to speak with another camera crew.
Aviles’s self-immolation was caught on the surveillance system of her home’s security cameras, investigators have confirmed.
She and her husband had separated after he learned of the alleged affair sometime this year, a source shared, but continued to co-parent their eight-year-old son.
Sources added he had installed cameras at the home they once shared, and that the footage from those devices captured his wife pouring gasoline on herself on September 13.
The Uvalde Police Department told the Daily Mail that the video has been handed to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s crime lab for review.
Aviles, known by friends and family as ‘Regi’, was airlifted to San Antonio but died in the hospital the next day.
Gonzales sang Aviles’ praises Thursday, saying her work is being overshadowed by her death.
‘I would like everyone to remember Regina for all the wonderful things that she did for our community,’ Gonzales said.
‘A new mental health facility in Uvalde would not have happened without her. Anyone that ever met her knew that she was a kind, welcoming soul.’
Gonzales’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
