House Republican Reveals Senator She Claims Has ‘Disturbing’ Allegations Against Him

Screenshot via social media

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) revealed this week the name of the U.S. Senator she claims is facing “disturbing allegations” of sexual misconduct.

Luna raised the issue earlier in the week in a vague tweet aimed at Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), urging him to “look into’ the allegations of one of his members – who she told CBS News’s Major Garrett on Thursday night is Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).

Gallego has faced a firestorm of controversy this week after his close friend, ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual abuse and rape. Luna suggested earlier this month that Swalwell would be facing serious accusations of sexual assault before the allegations were made public this week.

A Gallego spokesperson told CBS News in response to Luna’s claims, “These are right-wing conspiracy theories being parroted by a fringe far-right member of Congress. Senator Gallego has not received notification or been contacted by the ethics committee.”

Garrett began the segment with Luna by asking, “On X, you posted the following, tagging Senate Majority Leader John Thune: ‘It seems like the Senate has its own trash to take out. You, meaning Thune, need to look into the allegations against one of your senators. It’s very disturbing.’ Who are we talking about?”

Luna replied, “We are talking about an Arizona senator that was very closely tied to Eric Swalwell. I have since confirmed with Senator John Thune’s chief of staff, as well as they’re linking us to their ethics committee, that they are investigating, and we are sending all appropriate information directly to them now.”

Garrett pushed for clarification, “That would be Ruben Gallego, correct? When you say in that X post, ‘it’s very disturbing’ — for my audience’s benefit, can you define what disturbing means to you?”

“Well, without getting too graphic, there is a woman that allegedly is coming forward with attorneys, wants to go on record about an incident that occurred between the two of them, and the event was sexual in nature, allegedly,” replied Luna, adding:

But it’s not just that — there are also apparently two issues of campaign finance violations. Again, look, I am one member of Congress, but I’m not going to be like some of my colleagues that waited forever and a day to bring this information forward. I think that if this is happening, it needs to be dealt with. I’m definitely not in the Senate, but I think Thune should probably take that seriously and look into it, especially given the nature of what’s become apparent regarding Eric Swalwell.

Below is the rest of their exchange:

MAJOR GARRETT: Based on what you know, Congresswoman — and you’re not a prosecutor, neither am I — does this sound to you like it’s criminal in nature regarding Senator Gallego?

ANNA PAULINA LUNA: I think that if it involves people that were potentially trafficked, yes. Regarding the campaign finance violations, I think it’s cut and dry. But right now, again, I’m not investigating this. I’m simply presenting this information to the authorities that have the positions and power to do what they will with it. Part of the problem that we have in Washington currently is that a lot of this behavior was circulating publicly — people had heard about it, but they didn’t present it to the appropriate authorities.

And frankly, right now we have a slush fund that three-quarters of Congress voted to protect. We had to subpoena those records in-house oversight, and we should be obtaining them next week. But again, that information belongs to the American people. If your taxpayer dollars — to the tune of $18 million, which I think is the current number — are being used to cover sexual harassment and sexual assault settlements, that’s not something we should be paying for, and I definitely don’t want to serve with these types of people. I understand, too, playing devil’s advocate, that people can make false allegations. But given the stuff that’s come out with Eric Swalwell, given the stuff involving potentially escorts, et cetera — again, I sent this information as soon as I got it to the appropriate authorities.

GARRETT: You mentioned the word “trafficking,” which carries a lot of weight in a lot of different ways — criminal and emotional. Do you believe sex trafficking is part of what this could be about?

LUNA: I think any time you are knowingly engaging in purchasing someone for sex, that is something that should be taken seriously. I’ve heard this now about a few members of Congress — one of them is under current investigation by House Ethics, and I think another one is being opened up in the Senate. But yes, I would say that that’s criminal in nature. Actually, right now in the United States, according to the Trafficking in Persons Report that the State Department typically puts out, we’re one of the worst countries in the world for that.

And again, we don’t know anything about these individuals — are they doing it of their own accord? Are they being forced? Are they being coerced? Most people don’t have these types of allegations. Most people don’t have these types of rumors floating around about their offices. The problem that we’re seeing right now is that there are a few people up here who are not serving their constituents, and it should not be the expectation — nor should it be asked of us, by either party — to cover up this type of behavior. I do applaud journalists that are asking questions about this, because I don’t want to serve with these people. I don’t think they should be in positions of power, and I definitely don’t like what I’ve seen in regards to how they’ve treated women specifically. It’s actually really disturbing when you hear about it.

Watch the clip above via CBS News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!