Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was cleared of campaign finance and sexual misconduct accusations by one entity, but now faces a probe into his campaign finances by another.
The Senate Ethics Committee issued a letter to Gallego on Friday notifying him that he was cleared of accusations made by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) concerning sexual and financial misconduct.
The committee advised it had reviewed statements from individuals identified in the complaint, Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports, the 2025 Senate secretary’s expenditure report, the House of Representatives clerk’s expenditure reports, the House of Representatives reports of privately sponsored travel, and information provided by Gallego to the committee.
Committee members include Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), chairman; Christopher Coons (D-DE), vice chair; James Risch (R-ID); Brian Schatz (D-HI); Deb Fischer (R-NE); and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
In response to the committee letter, Gallego accused Paulina Luna on Monday of being one of many “far-right activists” spreading “right-wing conspiracies.”
The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.
I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna…
— Senator Ruben Gallego (@SenRubenGallego) June 29, 2026
Relief for the potential 2028 presidential candidate was short-lived. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also had an announcement on Monday wherein it revealed Gallego was under investigation for those alleged campaign finance violations the ethics committee had cleared.
According to federal campaign finance records, Gallego allegedly spent campaign funds on amenities and extravagances for himself and his family. An anonymous source first reported on by Politico accused the senator of treating his campaign cash like a “personal slush fund” for “a luxury lifestyle.”
One widely scrutinized expenditure concerned Gallego’s attendance at the 2023 Super Bowl with his former best friend: ex-California congressman and gubernatorial candidate, Eric Swalwell. Gallego and Swalwell hosted a joint fundraising committee event in which they dropped tens of thousands of dollars on brunch, tickets, and other watch party arrangements for themselves and select special guests.
Gallego has reportedly spent around $20,000 in campaign funds on childcare over the past seven years (nearly half came from this past year alone), and tens of thousands more on trips to vacation destinations including Miami for his wife’s birthday, the Caribbean for the birthday of his wife’s boss, and Nantucket and Puerto Rico as well.
Twice in 2025, Gallego used campaign funds to fly his family and an au pair to Disney properties.
Another anonymous source — either the same source quoted by Politico or another source — toldThe Daily Beast that Gallego arranged at least the Miami trip under the guise of fundraising but truly intended as a celebration for his wife’s birthday.
The New York Times recently reported that, while running for Senate back in 2024, Gallego allowed his wife to drive an SUV leased for campaign purposes.
Gallego and his spokespeople have defended the au pair as allowable childcare reimbursements under FEC rules, and some of the events criticized as luxury outings like the jet-setting trips and 2023 Super Bowl watch party as valid fundraising endeavors.
“Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption that’s raising costs for families, and instead targeting anyone who gets in their way — like the Federal Reserve, members of Congress doing their oversight duty, and now Senator Gallego,” read a recent statement from a Gallego spokesperson.
“Because I’m not a millionaire (I’m one of the least wealthy members of Congress), every month is a game of childcare, travel, and scheduling balancing,” said Gallego in a post to X earlier this month. “And because of my schedule and the laws passed that allow for it, I will at times bring my wife and children with me to these retreats and fundraisers. Are these at nice venues? Yes, it’s where the donors are, and it’s part of campaigning. I know people have opinions on that, but that’s the nature of the campaign system we have in our country.”
Let me clear the air on some of these stories swirling around. The FEC has stated that childcare may be reimbursed. There is a simple reason: we want Congress to look like America. Not just people without children, those with grown children, or those from wealthy backgrounds.
This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Supreme Court to uphold Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.
The DOJ filed a brief in Republican National Committee, et al. v. Mi Familia Vota, et al. (case Nos. 25-1017, 25-1019, and 25-1022).
The case will determine whether the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) prohibits states from: removing noncitizens from voter rolls within 90 days of an election, requiring individuals to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections using the state registration form, and denying individuals the ability to vote by mail if they don’t provide documentary proof of citizenship.
These questions emerged from House Bills 2243 and 2492; both passed in 2022. Together, these bills require the secretary of state and county recorders to regularly review voter rolls, mandate registrants using the state registration form provide proof of citizenship, and prohibit vote by mail for federal-only voters.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NVRA does preempt that legislation, impacting any similar citizenship proof measures taken by other states concerning their voting laws.
The federal court ruled the provisions in the Arizona laws amounted to unlawful voter suppression and were therefore unconstitutional. The court determined that voters must be allowed to vote federal ballots at least, even when they fail to provide proof of citizenship.
The respondents in the present litigation — Mi Familia Vota, Voto Latino, Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition, Democratic National Committee, and the Arizona Democratic Party — want to preempt Arizona and other states from imposing proof-of-citizenship limitations on voting.
Jesus Osete, principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in the DOJ announcement that the NVRA doesn’t prohibit states from removing noncitizens from voter rolls.
In its filing, the DOJ argued the lower court’s ruling conflicted with the NVRA since it would effectively render state forms into mere replicas of the federal form. States would lack the flexibility afforded by the NVRA, said the DOJ.
The DOJ filing argued that proof-of-citizenship requirements were harmonious with NVRA requirements to increase the number of eligible citizens registered to vote and ensure the maintenance of accurate and current voter rolls.
“When noncitizens with no right to shape American government vote in American elections, the ballot box no longer speaks for the People, because its tally no longer reflects their voice,” argued the DOJ.
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) said he was “thrilled” by the Trump administration’s intervention.
“Only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections,” said Petersen. “Excited for SCOTUS to take up this important case.”
Thrilled the Trump DOJ is backing Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirements! Only U.S. citizens should vote in our elections. Excited for SCOTUS to take up this important case. https://t.co/xWBiciTxjV
The Supreme Court has already overruled the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on one of the issues in 2024. The Supreme Court allowed Arizona to enforce its proof-of-citizenship requirement for state voter registration forms, but refused to allow enforcement of the requirement for those registering with federal forms.
That follows the precedent set in 2013, when the Supreme Court ruled that the NVRA prohibited Arizona from requiring proof of citizenship of those voters registering to vote with the federal voter registration form.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has formed the West Coast Healthcare Fraud Strike Force, a new multi-district initiative targeting the significant rise in healthcare fraud across Arizona, California, and Nevada. The effort unites federal prosecutors with law enforcement partners to protect Arizona taxpayers, patients, and legitimate healthcare services from sophisticated fraud networks.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the DOJ’s Fraud Division cited data showing sharp increases in fraud activity in the three states. “The Fraud Division is committed to bringing that same relentless, data-driven prosecutorial force to bear across every corner of this region,” said McDonald, “making unmistakably clear that no scheme is too sophisticated, no network too large or small, and no fraudster too distant to escape federal accountability.”
Arizona has been particularly hard-hit and is already on the front lines of enforcement. U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona noted that federal law enforcement and his office have already disrupted fraud schemes worth over a billion dollars of taxpayer money in the state. “Our mission as part of the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force is to ensure Americans who need critical services are not used as pawns to make bad actors rich,” Courchaine stated. “Through excellent investigations, trial work, and seizures of ill-gotten gains, the District of Arizona will continue safeguarding those services.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told The Center Square, “Arizona has been on the front lines of fighting Medicaid fraud for the past several years, and we welcome the federal government’s help in combatting this problem.” Mayes also highlighted that since 2023, her office has indicted 166 individuals and entities and recovered or seized more than $139 million in cash and assets.
Recent Arizona cases underscore the scale of the threat. In one scheme, Farrukh Jarar Ali, a 41 year old Pakistan-based operator, was charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and related offenses after allegedly submitting approximately $650 million in false and fraudulent claims to Arizona’s Medicaid program (AHCCCS) through at least 41 substance abuse treatment clinics.
Many patients were recruited from homeless populations or Native American reservations, and clinics often provided little or no legitimate care. AHCCCS paid out roughly $564 million before the scene was uncovered. Ali personally received about $24.5 million and used some proceeds to purchase luxury real estate in Dubai.
In another prosecution, Phoenix residents Alexandra Gehrke and her husband Jeffery King were sentenced to 15.5 years and 14 years in prison, for orchestrating a massive wound graft fraud scheme. Between November 2022 and May 2024, they and co-conspirators submitted over $1.2 billion in false or fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for medically unnecessary bioengineered skin substitutes applied to elderly and terminally ill patients — often through illegal kickbacks and regardless of medical need.
Federal programs paid out nearly $615 million. Authorities seized substantial assets from the couple, including $97 million from bank accounts, luxury vehicles, life insurance annuities, cash, and gold and silver.
Mayes also referenced a prior $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scheme involving fraudulent sober living homes targeting Native Americans, from which the state recovered only about 5% of losses. Her office has since launched a $6 million grant program to assist affected tribal nations.
The new Strike Force builds on these successes and addresses emerging threats identified by Scott Lampert, Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lampert pointed to “sham operations designed to appear legitimate while exploiting patients and inflating claims through increasingly sophisticated methods.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes over his refusal to turn over voter registration records.
The Arizona District Court ruled in United States v. Fontes on Tuesday that the federal government didn’t have justification under federal law to force Fontes to turn over the records.
The court dismissed the claim with prejudice, calling the federal government’s claim on the law “[an] amendment [that] would be legally futile.”
District Judge Susan Brnovich, widow to former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, found “unconvincing” the DOJ’s argument that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. § 20702) gave the federal government authority to request state voter records and documents. Brnovich said this interpretation conflicted with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
“[T]he Attorney General’s interpretation places § 20702 in conflict with multiple provisions of the NVRA and HAVA,” said Brnovich.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the lawsuit against Fontes in January. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi sought Arizona’s entire statewide voter registration list, which would include a registered voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and driver’s license number or last four Social Security Number digits.
At the time, Bondi said voter registration database transparency between the states and federal government fulfilled a “basic obligation of transparency.”
— Arizona Secretary of State (@AZSecretary) April 29, 2026
Fontes said the court ruling represented a victory for preserving the security of voter privacy.
“Looks like your personal data is safe yet again because the case against me and the Department of Justice’s illegal requests to grab that voter registration have been dismissed,” said Fontes. “I will continue to protect your personal identifying information from these illegal requests no matter what.”
BREAKING: A federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s case against my office.
Arizonans’ personal identifying information is safe and I will continue doing everything in my power to protect your privacy. pic.twitter.com/sPbqpkGiry
— Arizona Secretary of State (@AZSecretary) April 28, 2026
The DOJ requested records from Fontes twice last summer and once last winter. Fontes denied all requests. He has maintained that state and federal privacy laws preempt him from turning over voter records.
Attorney General Kris Mayes supported Fontes’ refusal from the start.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Mayes said the ruling was a rightful dismissal and a vindication of Fontes’ actions.
“That database contains the sensitive personal information of millions of Arizona voters — home addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security and driver’s license numbers. But the Court was clear: Title III of the Civil Rights Act does not authorize this demand,” said Mayes.
Today, Judge Susan Brnovich's dismissed the DOJ's lawsuit demanding our voter registration rolls. @AZSecretary and I will continue to defend the privacy of voters against federal overreach.
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) April 28, 2026
Five other federal courts in California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have rejected this Civil Rights Act argument by the Trump DOJ.
The DOJ has 25 lawsuits on their claim of Civil Rights Act authority pending in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Earlier this month, Arizona Senate leadership referred Fontes to the DOJ for allegedly obstructing justice and tampering with a witness concerning a federal probe into Arizona election records.
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The Arizona Senate’s leader referred two state officials to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to be investigated for obstruction.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) announced the referral on Tuesday. Petersen, who is also running for attorney general, accused Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes of obstruction of justice and tampering with a witness concerning the federal probe into Arizona election records.
“The threats of the Attorney General and Secretary of State are incompatible with United States Constitution, which enshrines the grand jury in our constitutional order, and only serve to hinder voters’ confidence in our elections,” stated Petersen in his letter to the DOJ.
Today I referred Kris Mayes and Adrian Fontes to the Department of Justice for obstruction of justice and tampering with a witness. It is disturbing to see their resistance to an election integrity investigation.https://t.co/pRJ3mJgsuEpic.twitter.com/MwOS1wQBwB
The referral emerged in response to Mayes and Fontes requesting information from the state senate concerning its compliance with a recent federal grand jury subpoena of 2020 election records.
In response to Petersen’s referral, Fontes accused the senate president of jeopardizing voters’ safety and security.
“My main concern for ensuring privacy of personal information in voter registration data, as required by law, remains,” said Fontes.
PRESS RELEASE: Secretary Fontes Responds to DOJ Referral and Ongoing Political Theater pic.twitter.com/HN2hP5UKcd
— Arizona Secretary of State (@AZSecretary) April 7, 2026
Last month, the two Democratic officials issued a joint letter ordering county recorders not to comply with the federal subpoena. Contrary to what Petersen claimed in Tuesday’s letter, Mayes and Fontes argued compliance with the federal subpoena would violate both federal and state law.
“It is the states’ authority and responsibility to hold elections — not the federal government,” stated the pair’s letter. “Without direct congressional action, the United States Constitution does not authorize or allow the federal government to insert itself into a state’s election procedures, much less authorize the DOJ to unilaterally build a national voter database.”
Mayes called the subpoena “a weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies,” and Petersen “an unrepentant election denier” spreading conspiracy theories and false stories of election fraud.
Petersen said the pair’s request from the state senate suggested their intention to interfere with the federal investigation.
Petersen based his referral on a legal analysis from the law firm Snell & Wilmer, which he said defended the state senate’s compliance with the federal subpoena and posited that the request by Mayes and Fontes constituted obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
In Petersen’s letter to Arizona District Attorney Timothy Courchaine, the state senate president accused Mayes and Fontes of ulterior motives linked to election meddling.
“Instead of fighting over these issues, we should all be working together to ensure the election integrity necessary to realize our country’s democratic promise,” said Petersen. “The Attorney General and Secretary’s phobia of fair and secure elections is impossible to explain absent nefarious motives.”
Mayes’ reelection campaign manager, Delaney Corcoran, said in a response that Petersen’s referral was a means to “seek retribution against his political enemies.”
Mayes made a similar claim when news of the federal subpoena emerged last month.
“One of the Republicans hoping to challenge me this fall is reigniting his SHAM ‘Cyber Ninja’ 2020 election audit conspiracies to the disservice of Arizonans,” said Mayes. “It’s a disgusting politicization of government and a waste of time and [money].”
One of the Republicans hoping to challenge me this fall is reigniting his SHAM ‘Cyber Ninja’ 2020 election audit conspiracies to the disservice of Arizonans. It’s a disgusting politicization of government and a waste of time and $. Just know, I’ll never stop protecting your vote.
