First-term Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) filed paperwork on Friday to create a legal defense fund following an ethics complaint and allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13).
Records show the senator filed IRS Form 8871 to establish the “Senator Ruben Gallego Legal Defense Fund.” The move comes after Luna referred “very disturbing” allegations against him to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who forwarded the matter to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
In an April interview with CBS News, Luna said some of the allegations were “sexual in nature” and others involved potential campaign finance violations. She referenced a woman preparing to come forward with legal representation regarding an alleged incident involving Gallego.
The Arizona US senator’s office forcefully denied the claims. A spokesperson called the allegations “right-wing conspiracy theories” pushed by Luna and others, and stated the legal defense fund was created specifically in response to Luna’s ethics referral. The office noted that Gallego had not been contacted by the Ethics Committee at the time of the initial public allegations.
The claims surfaced in the wake of the resignation of former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), a close personal and professional associate of Gallego, who left Congress in mid-April 2026 amid multiple accusations of sexual assault and harassment. Gallego has said he was unaware of Swalwell’s alleged misconduct and felt betrayed by his former colleague.
As of press time, the Senate Ethics Committee has not publicly released details on the status of any review, and Luna has not publicly released evidence or the identity of the accuser.
Gallego was elected to the Senate in 2024 after previously serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2025, representing Arizona’s 7th and later 3rd Congressional Districts. His term ends in 2030.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
