"It's really gross when you hear about it," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tells CBS News anchor Major Garrett about sex-offense allegations on Capitol Hill. As we have discovered in the past week with Eric Swalwell, it's even more gross when no one discloses it.
That is the Florida Republican's point in her interview with Garrett yesterday. Luna has information about a new allegation involving Eric the Pred's wingman on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ruben Gallego, who has spent the last few days insisting that he knew nothing about the supposed double life led by his best friend and roommate. Luna claims that a woman will come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Gallego, and while Luna doesn't want to specify the charges, they apparently rhyme with schmafficking and smoshtitution:
NEW: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is accusing Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) of misconduct, telling CBS News’ Major Garrett her office has provided Senate Majority Leader Thune’s staff with allegations related to Gallego that are “sexual in nature.” CBS News has reached out to… pic.twitter.com/z4L54nix3v
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 16, 2026
CBS News has reached out to Senator Gallego’s office for a response.
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."
Luna appeared on CBS News after a tweet Wednesday night that referred to an unnamed member of the Senate as "trash" that Majority Leader John Thune needed to "take out." Thune responded yesterday morning that he had referred the matter and the unnamed Senator to the Ethics Committee, but that he didn't have the "particulars" about the allegation. Fox News tried to get a statement from the committee without success.
Gallego's office denies any misconduct took place:
Gallego’s office flatly denied the allegations, calling them “right wing conspiracy theories.” ...
However, a spokesperson for Gallego said the senator has not been contacted regarding the allegations.
“Senator Gallego has not received notification or been contacted by the ethics committee,” a spokesperson with Gallego’s office said.
Well, we heard that from Swalwell's office too, right up to the moment that Swalwell resigned from Congress. Even in his withdrawal from the California gubernatorial race, Swalwell denied all allegations as politically motivated. When he resigned from Congress, Eric the Pred admitted that he may have crossed some lines unintentionally but did not assault women.
And you know who helped Swalwell with those denials? Eric the Pred's longstanding wingman. Gallego attacked the one woman who came forward publicly and claimed that the allegation was essentially a "conspiracy theory" too:
Before abruptly withdrawing his endorsement last week—amid reports that Swalwell allegedly raped a former staffer and behaved inappropriately toward at least three other women—Gallego initially rode to his buddy's defense.
"When you are in first place, is when they target you," Gallego wrote on April 7 in response to reports that Swalwell would "soon" face credible accusations of sexual misconduct. "Eric is a fighter and he will win the Governors race." Gallego also attacked the credibility of Democratic influencer Arielle Fodor, aka "Mrs. Frazzled," who (accurately) predicted that the coming allegations would sink Swalwell's campaign.
Gallego reversed himself later, claiming to have had no knowledge of or participation with Swalwell's predatory behavior, but as the Free Beacon noted on Monday, that strains credulity – especially given that the two shared a residence for a significant period of time:
Since then, many have challenged Gallego's suggestion that he was completely unaware of Swalwell's alleged behavior toward women, which has been described as an "open secret" for more than a decade.
"I’ve covered Eric Swalwell since he was a member of the Dublin City Council," wrote Bay Area writer Steven Tavares. "Shortly after being elected to Congress in 2013, his behavior towards women was known by all levels of our local government and the Alameda County Democratic Party." Gallego became a congressman in 2015. Nearly three years later, a CNN article on sexual harassment in Congress referenced "more than half a dozen" Capitol Hill sources who "independently named one California congressman for pursuing female staffers."
Given the close relationship between the two men and Gallego's initial attempt to attack accusers, it seems highly unlikely that he got blindsided by his buddy. It seems more likely that he and Eric the Pred shared a few of those 'adventures' with staffers together, or at least that Gallego witnessed those.
If the allegation against Gallego going to the Senate Ethics Committee holds up, then Democrats have an even bigger problem. It's one thing to lose a House seat for a short period of time; those come up for election every two years anyway. It's another to replace a seat in the Senate. Gallego won this seat in 2024, and Arizona Democrats expected him to hold it in 2030. If Gallego has to resign, though, Gov. Katie Hobbs will appoint a Democrat to replace him but will have to hold a special election this year or in 2028, followed by the regular election for that seat in 2030. And worse, the scandal will infect the Democrats' campaign to wrest control of the upper chamber from the GOP this cycle regardless of whether Arizona has to call a special election, given the cover-up involved with Eric the Pred and now potentially Gallego.
And even worse: if this allegation has legs, Democrats had better prepare themselves for more women to step forward about Gallego, too. At some point, party leadership will see Gallego as expendable, just as they did with Swalwell. That point may come sooner than we think, if Luna's correct.
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