Less than a day after the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint against him, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., learned he is the subject of a Justice Department investigation. A source familiar with the probe confirmed to Fox News Digital that it concerns potential violations of campaign finance law. The New York Post also confirmed the investigation. It relates to luxury outings and family trips paid for with campaign donations.
Gallego’s office has called the investigation political. “Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Axios. The spokesperson added that it was “the least surprising news of the week” that the probe came right after the ethics panel “cleared Senator Gallego of right-wing smears pushed by the administration.” The Justice Department did not immediately respond to the Post’s requests for comment.
What Politico reported
The spending questions come from a Politico report published the week before. It said Gallego used campaign money for family trips to Miami, Saint Barthélemy, Disneyland, Disney World and Chicago. Records show the Disneyland trip cost close to $1,500 for lodging alone, not counting flights. The senator also took part in PAC retreats at the two Disney parks.
Politico also reported that Gallego and former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., set up a joint committee called the Swallego Victory Fund in October 2022. It spent more than $37,000 on tickets and meals for the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona, where it held a fundraiser. Gallego attended with his wife. He has said the tickets were a legitimate fundraising expense.
Federal Election Commission records show about $18,000 in childcare payments from his political action committee and campaign accounts since 2019, including $400 to his mother-in-law for babysitting. A source told Politico, “He just spends his campaign account like it’s his personal slush fund.”
Gallego’s defense
Gallego rejects the charge. “This is not breaking news,” he told Politico, according to Fox. He pointed to the cost of childcare and said lawmakers in both parties and in the White House “regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC.” In a post on X he wrote that “the FEC has stated that childcare may be reimbursed.”
The ethics complaint had been filed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and alleged campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct. After the panel dismissed it, Gallego told NPR the accusations were “right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists.”
Later reporting
In October, Politico reported that a grand jury subpoena dated Aug. 21 had gone to Gallego’s leadership PAC, Juntos PAC. The subpoena describes an “ongoing criminal investigation.” It sought records tied to activities on or about Sept. 9, 2025, along with statements Gallego gave the Ethics Committee. Spokesman Jacques Petit said the PAC “has complied with and responded to the Trump DOJ subpoena because it has nothing to hide.” He did not say whether Gallego himself had been subpoenaed.
Sources
- Dem senator faces DOJ probe after allegations of spending campaign funds on luxury lifestyle
- DOJ Subpoenas Arizona Dem Senator Gallego PAC in Explosive Campaign Cash Investigation
- DOJ investigating Dem Sen. Ruben Gallego after records revealed he blew campaign cash on Super Bowl tickets, Disney trips
