Text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News show Rep. Tony Gonzales allegedly made explicit sexual requests to his campaign director in 2020, including asking for nude photos and sex.
The messages, obtained by the newspaper, reveal Gonzales repeatedly pursued the campaign director with sexual advances, despite her declining his requests multiple times.
The former campaign director, who shared the texts with the Express-News, described Gonzales as "pure evil" and called for his behavior to stop following the death of a congressional staffer involved in a separate affair with the lawmaker.
(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)
Explicit text messages published Monday by the the San Antonio Express-News appear to show Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) repeatedly asked his then-campaign director for nude photos and sex in 2020, years before admitting his 2024 affair with a congressional staffer who later died by suicide.
The previously unreported exchanges containing hundreds of messages were obtained by the newspaper. The messages, which the newspaper reported date from when Gonzales was a first-time Republican candidate in June 2020, allegedly show him escalating a late-night conversation with his campaign’s political director into explicit sexual requests over several days.
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Within hours of initially discussing her dating life and complimenting her as a “smart girl,” the alleged text messages show that Gonzales asked what she wore to bed, what kind of underwear she was wearing, and requested nude photos. The messages as reported by the Express-Sun, go on to describe how he wished to have sex with her and have her “squeeze my balls.”
“I know what I want and won’t stop until I get it,” one message reads, according to the report.
When the campaign director declined his requests multiple times the report says he replied: “47 nos is about my limit.” The texts then include multiple requests for photos in the following days.
Despite the exchanges, the aide, granted anonymity, told the newspaper that no physical relationship occurred and that the pair “didn’t so much as touch.”
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The revelations add to mounting scrutiny over Gonzales’s conduct following a separate 2024 affair with 35-year-old congressional aide Regina Santos-Aviles, which he publicly acknowledged as “a mistake” and “a lapse in judgment.” Santos-Aviles died by self-immolation in September 2025 after her husband discovered the messages.
Revelations related to that relationship prompted backlash from House Republican leaders and led Gonzales to abandon his bid for a fourth term. He is set to leave office in January.
The former campaign director who shared the texts with the Express-News said she chose to come forward after learning of Santos-Aviles’s death in 2025.
“He obviously pursued, pursued, pursued her like he did with me,” she said. “I never took him serious… It wasn’t until this poor girl died that I thought, ‘No, this guy is pure evil.’”
The Express-News reported that it confirmed the newly revealed messages originated from Gonzales’s cell phone number and that campaign finance records indicate the staffer was employed on his campaign. Gonzales did not respond to questions from the newspaper.
Tejano music star Bobby Pulido is running for Congress in South Texas and has been performing at quinceaneras as part of his campaign strategy.
Pulido's campaign received over 1,000 requests in the first 24 hours to perform at various events, including quinceaneras, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, and graduations.
Pulido's congressional run has faced criticism due to resurfaced social media posts and reports of performing with a bandmate who is a registered sex offender, as well as delays in filing a financial disclosure with the House Clerk.
Jimena Sáenz’s glittery blue quinceañera gown caught the light and sparkled as she swayed to the Tejano music flowing through the Edinburg event center last month.
Her friends and family formed a circle around her, some mouthing lyrics as they filmed on their phones and danced to the live performance from Bobby Pulido, the Tejano music star who is running for Congress in South Texas.
It was one of a dozen quinceañeras the Democrat and first-time political candidate has gone to since mid-March, an effort aimed at spinning a dig from his opponent — who said the election “isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera” — into an offbeat way of reaching new voters.
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At Sáenz’s quinceañera, Pulido started the evening singing “Hermoso Cariño” by Mexican singer Vicente Fernández and later performed “Desvelado,” the title track of his 1995 album that propelled him to fame and reached the top 10 on Billboard’s chart of top Latin albums.
It’s also a favorite for Jimena Sáenz’s sisters.
“I know it’s basic, but ‘Desvelado’ is definitely just one of those bangers that you cannot get rid of this family at all,” said Janie Sáenz, Jimena’s 20-year-old sister.
Pulido’s quinceañera circuit was inspired by a March 4 video posted on social media by his Republican opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, in which she referred to Pulido as a “scandal-plagued celebrity” and questioned his fitness for office.
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“This election isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera,” said De La Cruz, R-Edinburg. “It’s about who you trust with your family’s future. After years of neglect, South Texas finally has a seat at the table, and we’re not going to jeopardize that.”
Pulido fired back, saying the celebration — which celebrates a girl’s 15th birthday and transition into womanhood — is a rite of passage in South Texas that brings the community together.
“Quinceaneras are a part of our culture here,” he said in an interview. “She tried to make it an insult, and I take it as a badge of honor.”
Pulido put out an open call for invitations to perform at quinceañeras across Texas’ 15th Congressional District, which stretches from east of San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley and is Democrats’ top target in Texas. His campaign received more than 1,000 requests in the first 24 hours, and in the weeks since, people have also been asking Pulido to perform at birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and graduations, he said, noting that the requests now number more than 2,700.
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Amy Sáenz, Jimena Sáenz’s 18-year-old sister who filled out the form inviting Pulido, said she heard about his performances from her high school coaches and classmates and filled out the form after encouragement from her mom. She said her family planned Pulido’s appearance as a surprise for the roughly 250 guests they expected.
At the quinceañera, Pulido gave Jimena Sáenz a pink hat labeled “Make Quinceañeras Great Again” and autographed by the Tejano singer.
“We decided to invite Bobby Pulido to not only showcase what a quinceañera is, but to also have the memory of him being able to come,” said Amy, who is a senior in high school. She said her family is politically engaged and already held a positive opinion of the singer before his performance.
But Álvaro Corral, a political science assistant professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, said Pulido’s strategy is not just about appealing to people attending the quinceañeras, but also those seeing the videos and photos from the events that have been shared across social media — a relatively low-cost way to reach more voters.
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“It’s a way to reach a lot of people … a lot of folks who may not necessarily be super plugged into politics, especially in a midterm election,” he said, adding that it also helps Pulido capitalize further on his positive image as a famous musician and present himself as a political outsider rather than a “politician.”
Jackie Bastard, executive director of Jolt Initiative, a Texas-based nonprofit that aims to increase civic participation among Latinos, said quinceañeras are a sacred cultural milestone in the Latino community that represent a young woman stepping into leadership and responsibility. Pulido’s strategy puts him in touch with voters where they are and introduces him to their communities and the issues they face, she added.
“It’s more than just singing,” said Bastard, whose group runs a program that registers people to vote at quinceañeras. “[When] celebrities or even politicians use that power to visit people … they tend to talk to these individuals a lot closer and and really tell them the issues that are impacting them.”
Jimena Sáenz’s guests film and dance along as Pulido sings during the quinceañera celebration in Edinburg. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Aimee López’s guests react as Pulido sings at the quinceañera celebration in Mission. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Aimee López, 15, holds a cap gifted to her by Pulido that reads “Make Quinceañeras Great Again,” on March 27, 2026. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner who is now running for Congress in District 15, received more than 1,000 requests in the first 24 hours to perform at quinceañeras, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and graduations. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
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National Democrats are bullish on Pulido’s chances of reclaiming the 15th Congressional District, which covers a massive geographic area but has most of its population in Hidalgo County, a border community that includes McAllen. De La Cruz has held the seat since she flipped it in 2022, marking the first time in history a Republican won the district.
Democrats are gunning for the seat this election cycle, hoping to win back Latino voters amid growing dissatisfaction with the Trump administration over the economy and immigration. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put De La Cruz’s seat — where about three-quarters of registered voters are Hispanic — on a list of 35 Republican-held districts they’re targeting across the country as they try to win control of the U.S. House this fall.
But Pulido’s congressional run has also attracted criticism as a growing number of his old social media posts have resurfaced and been used as fodder by De La Cruz and Republican allies to argue the musician is unfit for Congress. They have also pointed to reports that Pulido performed with a bandmate who is a registered sex offender. Pulido’s campaign has said he was unaware of the bandmate’s criminal history, which includes a conviction for indecent contact with an 8-year-old girl.
Pulido’s unearthed posts, meanwhile, include ones with misogynistic jokes and links to pornographic websites. His political foes have also circulated a music video from 2010 in which he played the role of a pervert. Pulido defended the video, saying it was satirical and “based on a real singer that was caught in a lewd act.”
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In a March 22 video posted on X, Pulido called the criticism “cheap tabloid attacks” and said they stem from translating posts from Spanish to English, which doesn’t properly convey the original humor.
A spokesperson for De La Cruz’s campaign noted in a statement that Pulido also shared an explicit photo of a woman unintentionally exposing herself at his concert in a 2023 post.
“While he’s busy explaining his predatory behavior,” the spokesperson said, “Congresswoman De La Cruz is focused on delivering for working-class families in South Texas, because she’s actually one of them.”
As of Wednesday evening, Pulido also had yet to file a financial disclosure with the House Clerk providing details about his income, assets and other financial information. The report was due within 30 days of the start of Pulido’s campaign; candidates may request extensions before that initial deadline, though Pulido did not do so.
Pulido signs back at a girl during Jimena Sáenz’s quinceañera celebration in Edinburg. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Pulido’s campaign said they were working as quickly as possible to finalize the report and would file it soon, adding that the candidate’s background as a musician makes financial disclosures more complex.
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“Some of the jokes, I wish I could take back,” Pulido said in an interview. “I’m not going to apologize for acting in a music video. I’m an actor, I’m a singer, I’m part of the entertainment industry, and I think that they’re just grasping at straws.”
Before he launched his campaign for Texas, Pulido became a household name in Tejano music, which is a fusion of Mexican and American sounds that originated in Texas. He’s gotten five Latin Grammy nominations and has more than 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Janie Sáenz said Tejano music has impacted her and her family’s lives, adding that quinceañeras are important to her family as a marker of both the start of adulthood and a celebration of the childhood that is ending.
“Bobby Pulido’s music has been a major part of our family growing up,” Janie Sáenz said. “We’re very proud, not only of our last name, but everything we’ve inherited.”
Disclosure: University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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RFK Jr. Desperately Tries to Rebrand After Sordid Revelations
Josh Fiallo
3 min read
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced he is launching a podcast—a day after an excerpt from a new biography laid bare his alleged past infidelity.
The so-called Secretary Kennedy Podcast is coming soon, he said in a Wednesday announcement video. He supposedly plans to have “fearless conversations with critical thinkers, including independent doctors…”
“This podcast is about telling the truth even when it is uncomfortable,” he adds.
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Kennedy, 72, did not live by that tagline during his marriage to Mary Richardson Kennedy, according to an excerpt from the Kennedy biography, RFK, Jr.: The Fall and Rise, that was published Tuesday.
Rather, the biographer Isabel Vincent claims that Kennedy “gaslit” his then-wife over his philandering.
“He definitely gaslit her and told her that she was crazy and that her accusations about other women were fantasies,” a source told Vincent, who is an investigative reporter at The New York Post. “She was innocent and naive, but she drank, which was classic in the sense of being in pain a lot of the time.”
Richardson was Kennedy’s second wife. She took her own life in May 2012, two years after Kennedy sprung on her that he wanted a divorce on Mother’s Day. Kennedy went on to marry the actress Cheryl Hines in 2014.
Mary Richardson Kennedy, 52, took her own life two years after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told her he wanted a divorce.
Secret diaries obtained by Vincent detailed Kennedy’s struggles with staying faithful to Richardson. He wrote that he had to contend with so-called “lust demons” and that no matter how much he had as a Kennedy scion, he was always hunting for “more.”
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Kennedy, now the country’s top public health official, was an environmental lawyer during his marriage to Richardson. He once patted himself on the back for making it through a trip without giving in to temptation, the biography claims, citing his journal.
“I made it through a difficult week without acting out,” he wrote during a trip to the Hamptons in the summer of 1999, according to Vincent. “I am proud of myself because the Sirens were on every rock out there.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was an environmental lawyer throughout the 1990s. / STR New / Reuters
Meanwhile, Vincent writes that Mary stayed at home, hosting endless events at the Kennedy house and raising their three children, all under the age of 5 at the time of that entry. Sources close to Richardson told Vincent that “much” of her depression came from Kennedy’s infidelity.
In recordings obtained by Mother Jones, Kennedy allegedly said in a 2011 argument with Richardson that it was her fault he cheated on her 37 times. Previous reports about Kennedy’s journals revealed that he would award each woman he bedded with a number between 1 and 10, with a “10” designation meaning they had intercourse.
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He painted himself as the victim of seductresses, using the term “mugged” as if he were an unwilling participant, and “victory” when he did not succumb to their temptations. He was entirely an innocent party, in his own version.
Kennedy has not been able to shake his reputation as a womanizer, even now that he is in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. Despite a decade of marriage to Hines, the then New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi, now 33, revealed in September 2024 that she had a months-long digital affair with him—complete with nude photos and sexting. Nuzzi was previously a political reporter on the Daily Beast.
Nuzzi’s digital affair revelation did not keep the thrice-married Trump, who himself has a history of alleged affairs, from appointing Kennedy as HHS secretary. Neither did Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism, his past heroin addiction, or his claims to have once snorted cocaine off toilet seats.
HHS did not respond to a request for comment.
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Nancy Guthrie Update: Why the New Note & Bitcoin Demand Could Be Real, Says Police Detective
Michelle Stein
3 min read
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Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie‘s mom, Nancy Guthrie, is still missing more than two months after her Tucson, Ariz., abduction—and an active police detectiverecently called out explained why a new note and bitcoin demand could be real.
On the April 7 episode of Brian Entin Investigates, NewsNation Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin spoke with Brian Martin, an active detective with the Fort Wayne Police Department in Indiana, who specializes in cold cases.
On April 6, TMZ received new notes from a person who allegedly saw Nancy alive in Sonora, Mexico, but claimed that the 84-year-old “is dead” now. The letter was reportedly from the same person who sent ransom notes to the outlet in February. This time, however, the person demanded 1 Bitcoin—half before the information was shared and half after a public arrest—in exchange for information about the location of Nancy’s body.
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"The person, whoever sent the letters, they want some attention. They want those letters to be found, or they wouldn't have sent them to a news outlet," Martin speculated. "That's somebody who wants to be heard."
He continued, "I would hope if it is the person involved in Ms. Guthrie's disappearance, that they want to be heard and are legitimately trying to negotiate some type of deal, or whatever it is they're looking to do. And not maybe somebody who has ulterior motives for attention that has nothing to do with the case. You get somebody like that, and it's going to take this case down a completely wrong path, away from Ms. Guthrie, away from trying to solve this case and finding her, if she's still alive."
When Entin asked whether the Guthrie family should just pay the half a Bitcoin, Martin pointed out a potential risk, suggesting that the person could turn around and ask for even more money without providing the information.
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"Is this person gonna actually give legitimate information, or are they just trying to soak the family for money? And you hope that somebody's not doing that," he shared. "And a big concern with asking for half a Bitcoin, it's my understanding there's a considerable reward for information leading to the recovery of Miss Guthrie. So therefore, why would you not just submit a tip to a legitimate crime stoppers, or to the sheriff's department, or to the FBI, or to the tip line that's set up, and get the $100,000. So that makes it very suspect to me."
However, Martin speculated that one reason the note-writer went to TMZ instead of tip lines and other legitimate sources.
"Oftentimes, those individuals, they want the power," he pointed out. "It is almost [like] they're reliving the event. It allows them to have the power and feel the power over the community, over the Guthrie family, and over pretty much everybody. It makes them feel like they're in the driver's seat of the case."
Plus, as Entin and Martin later speculated, Nancy might have accidentally died while the perpetrators had her. Contacting the FBI, or the sheriff's department, or a tip line at that point would be risky, as they would face felony murder charges.
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Nancy was last seen at her Tucson home on the evening of Jan. 31. As of writing, no suspect has been named despite Savannah's $1 million reward offer.
Two anti-LGBTQ+ politicians who have been critical of transgender people and “woke” ideology have themselves played with their gender presentation, The Advocate has learned.
Newly unearthed photos show U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins dressed in drag while they were in high school. Both politicians are staunchly anti-trans and support President Donald Trump’s aggressive policies that strip LGBTQ+ people of their rights. The existence of the images has not been reported previously.
Carter and Collins are two of three Georgia Republicans running against each other in the primaries in the hopes of unseating Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff, a vocal LGBTQ+ ally. Voters will go to the polls in the state on May 19 to decide who will run against him.
The Advocate reviewed archival high school yearbooks from the 1970s and 1980s that include photos of both men in drag, and corroborated identifying details such as names, schools, and graduation years.
In Collins’ yearbook from his senior year at Piedmont Academy in Monticello, Georgia, in 1985, there are photos showing the congressman wearing a floral sleeveless dress and long wig while standing next to a young woman and another man also dressed in drag, with the caption “Senior class ‘beauties,’ Mike Collins and Andy Brady.” In another photo, Collins is still in drag, standing with other members of his graduating class.
\u200bRep. Mike Collins in drag in his high school yearbook.
Piedmont Academy yearbook in 1985.
Rep. Mike Collins in drag in his high school yearbook.
Carter, whose real name is Earl LeRoy Carter, is seen wearing a long dress and sash in the Robert W. Groves High School yearbook for 1975, the year he graduated from the school in a suburb of Savannah. There is no caption attached to the drag photo, but there is a strong resemblance to Carter’s senior photo in the same yearbook when the two are compared. The congressman was also the subject of a Reddit thread in 2025, where a user posted another photo of Carter in drag from a different yearbook, captioned “Miss ‘Cantelope’ Carter.” The Advocate was unable to independently verify the additional photo.
\u200bA photo collage of Rep. Buddy Carter allegedly in drag and his senior yearbook photo.
Robert W. Groves High School yearbook for 1975
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A photo collage of Rep. Buddy Carter allegedly in drag and his senior yearbook photo.
Critics point to the men’s hypocrisy of being scandalized by drag when LGBTQ+ people do it, but embracing gender play as harmless fun when they do it.
“Rep. Collins and Rep. Carter are running to represent every Georgian, but they’ve made it clear that they don’t believe LGBTQ+ Georgians are worthy of equal rights,” David Stacy, vice president of government affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, told The Advocate.
Carter, a self-proclaimed “MAGA warrior,” introduced the “Truth in Gender Act” in June 2025, which sought to codify Trump’s executive order that mandated that the U.S. government only recognize two biological sexes, voted in favor of the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” which proposed making it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to minors, and ran campaign ads last summer that showed his disdain for transgender women competing in sports.
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“Rep. Buddy Carter introduced a bill to codify President Trump’s heinous anti-trans executive orders, he has voted to force trans youth to be outed, and he voted to allow doctors and parents to be charged with a federal felony with a ten-year penalty for best practice medical care,” Stacey said.
Collins also supported the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” calling gender-affirming care “radical woke ideology,” and has echoed the conservative talking point that transgender women should not compete in women’s sports. He has also blamed a train derailment on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
As recently as March 31, Collins posted a photo of the Trans Am car bearing a Confederate flag license plate from the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit, captioned “Happy Trans Visibility Day to all who celebrate.”
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“Rep. Mike Collins has repeatedly voted to yank books out of libraries, tell parents of trans youth what kind of health care their kids may or may not receive, and said Rev. Marianne Budde — the Episcopal bishop who pleaded with President Trump for ‘mercy’ for LGBTQ+ people [at a Washington, D.C. service the day after his January 2025 inauguration] — should be added to a deportation list,” Stacy said.
In a statement to The Advocate, a spokesperson for the Ossoff campaign said that the three Republicans running in the primary are more concerned with attacking the trans community than with what voters actually care about. "Instead of working to find bipartisan solutions on issues impacting Georgians’ lives, like lowering costs at the grocery store or making health care more affordable, Mike Collins, Derek Dooley, and Buddy Carter are shamelessly using trans individuals as a prop for political division. It's gross and wrong,” the statement said.
In response to viewing the yearbook photos in question, Collins’ communications director Emma Gibson told The Advocate that “Only people whose brains have been rotted by ill-prescribed hormones and the continual over-sexualization of life around them would view a yearbook photo of Rep. Collins and his wife 40 years ago switching clothes for a Homecoming tradition as anything more than lighthearted humor.”
Chris Crawford, a spokesperson for Carter’s office, refused to confirm or deny whether the congressman is in the photos during multiple interactions with The Advocate. Instead, in a text message, Crawford wrote, “You’re playing with fire to run a story without verification.” When asked directly whether Carter denies that the image is of him, Crawford texted, “You’d like us to do your job?”
Drag performer Taylor Alxndr, who is also the co-founder and executive director of the community organization Southern Fried Queer Pride in Georgia, is tired of hypocritical politicians who blame the LGBTQ+ community for all of the ills of society.
“There’s this big bogeyman of trans people, even though statistically, historically, and factually, trans people pose no harm to the American economy, pose no harm to cisgender people, especially cisgender women,” Alxndr told The Advocate. “This idea that trans women are following or trying to attack or harm cisgender women in restrooms, it's all just a big distraction from the actual evil that plagues a lot of the country, and it's these politicians and people who support them.”
Carter and Collins are far from the first “family values” Republican politicians to dress in drag while spewing hateful rhetoric about queer people and fighting for anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Vice President JD Vance, former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, disgraced gay former New York Rep. George Santos, and disbarred Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani have all had their pasts dressing in drag come to light.
”Drag is a centuries-old art form that is not limited to LGBTQ people, but which has an undisputed history of pride and visibility in the LGBTQ community that should be uplifted,” a GLAAD spokesperson told The Advocate. “It's a no-brainer that anyone who participates in this part of LGBTQ culture should support basic protections for LGBTQ people. Anything less is hypocrisy.”
The GLAAD spokesperson added, “Recent attacks on family-friendly drag shows and performers are a baseless distraction from real action that will help families, like affordability and health care. Rep. Collins and Rep. Carter should shift their focus from any anti-LGBTQ animus to family-forward policies that uplift and protect all families."
Alxndr said that these men may have originally enjoyed dressing in drag, but because of “familial pressure, religious pressure, or political pressure,” the “very simple, fun, nonsensical experience of them performing or dressing up in drag gets changed into something that's evil or harmful,” and that’s when they tend to start targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
