Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida accused Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of misconduct on Thursday, which Gallego denied.
Luna told CBS News’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that the Arizona Democrat was the previously unnamed senator whom she said was facing “very disturbing” allegations in a cryptic social media post earlier this week.
A Gallego spokesperson told CBS News on Thursday: “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.”
CBS News has not verified the allegations.
Luna did not give much detail about the allegations, but she said some of them are “sexual in nature” and some of them involve alleged campaign finance violations. She also said Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office confirmed to her that the matter is under investigation.
Luna referred to Gallego as a senator “that was very closely tied to Eric Swalwell,” a House Democrat who resigned from Congress this week following sexual misconduct allegations.
Luna said “there is a woman that allegedly is coming forward with attorneys [and] wants to go on-record about an incident that occurred between the two of them at the same time, and the event was sexual in nature, allegedly.”
Pressed for further details, Luna added that “I think any time that you are knowingly engaging in purchasing someone for sex, that that is something that should be taken seriously.”
Gallego has strongly denied wrongdoing in recent days. He told reporters earlier this week he has never engaged in any sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behavior with staff or women outside of his marriage.
Gallego — who was friends with Swalwell but later called for his expulsion from Congress — acknowledged earlier this week that he was aware of rumors of Swalwell acting “flirty.” But he later said that he’d “never heard actual accusations of harassment of staff or predatory behavior toward staff.” Gallego also said he “fell for the lies.”
Hours before Luna named Gallego, Thune told reporters that he didn’t know whether the congresswoman’s allegations of “very disturbing” behavior were credible, but he said it had been referred to the Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics. CBS News has reached out to the ethics panel for comment.
The saga comes just days after Swalwell and his former GOP colleague, Rep. Tony Gonzales, formally resigned from the House within hours of each other as pressure mounted to expel them from the lower chamber. Swalwell has been accused of sexual assault and sending unsolicited nude photos, and Gonzales has been accused of having an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.
Luna has been outspoken about the need to crack down on allegations of misconduct, telling CBS News earlier this week that she expects other lawmakers to face similar pressure.
Christian Peña, Alan He and Nikole Killion contributed to this report.
