Ruben Gallego, the junior Democratic senator for Arizona, has quietly set up a legal defense fund, one month after his close friend Eric Swalwell's political career collapsed amid multiple sexual assault allegations. An IRS filing obtained by the Daily Mail shows that Gallego, 46, registered a tax-exempt trust on May 22 called 'The Senator Ruben Gallego Legal Defense Fund.'
Legal Defense Fund Details
The fund was registered as a 527 organization, a tax-exempt status for groups that receive contributions or disburse money for political reasons. Gallego listed the registered address for his legal defense fund at an office building in Phoenix, with the trustee being local Democratic apparatchik and former state senator Raquel Terán.
Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna publicly accused Gallego of sexual misconduct in April. Sources within the Gallego camp acknowledged to the Daily Mail that the fund was set up in response to her claims. They insisted that Luna has provided no details or evidence concerning the allegation and stated that Gallego has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and is 'fully complying' with the ethics inquiry.
Gallego's Relationship with Eric Swalwell
Married father-of-three Gallego is one of Swalwell's closest friends and even chaired his abortive 2020 run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Swalwell attended Gallego's wedding to his second wife, Sydney Barron, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico in June 2021. Gallego said his family and Swalwell's were 'as close as it gets,' but Swalwell had lied to him about the accusations of sexual misconduct. The pair also took a freebie trip to Qatar together the following month, along with their partners, and stayed at the luxury Five Seasons hotel in Doha. Photos posted by Swalwell showed the two shirtless and enjoying a camel ride with the Persian Gulf in the background.
Gallego has claimed he knew nothing about his erstwhile pal's 'predatory' behavior and had assumed the 44-year-old was 'just a flirty social guy.' In a statement to reporters shortly after Swalwell resigned from Congress, he said: 'My family and his family were as close as it gets. Our kids were in baseball camp together. We had dinner together as a family. I did ask him about the allegations and he lied to me.'
Allegations Against Gallego
The new fund suggests Gallego is concerned about facing allegations of his own. He has a checkered personal life, including divorcing his first wife, Katie Wilson—now mayor of Phoenix—while she was pregnant with their son Michael, now 10. Luna, 37, accused Gallego of sexual misconduct against another woman both on social media and in a CBS interview, claims he promptly denied. She also referred Gallego to the Senate Ethics Committee, with the embattled 46-year-old meeting with committee staff the following day.
In the interview, Luna described the allegations against Gallego as 'sexual in nature' and also accused him of campaign finance violations. She added: 'There is a woman that allegedly is coming forward with attorneys, 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.' Gallego hit back, with a spokesman deriding Luna's claim as 'conspiracy theories' and adding: 'These are right wing conspiracy theories being parroted by a fringe far right member of Congress.'
Ethics Committee and Political Reactions
While the Ethics Committee has yet to comment on the complaint about Gallego, the Arizona Democrat is also facing calls from other politicians to reveal more about what he knew about Swalwell's activities. Those activities allegedly included pursuing women too intoxicated to consent, sending nude photos of himself to women over Snapchat, and raping a 25-year-old staffer in a New York hotel room. Swalwell has denied all the allegations but has admitted to cheating on his wife Brittany Watts, 42, on multiple occasions.
Days after Swalwell's resignation from Congress, New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, 39, sent Gallego a letter demanding the release of all communications between the erstwhile best pals. Lawler wrote: 'In light of your personal and professional relationship with Eric Swalwell, I urge you to release all communications exchanged between yourself and the alleged predator. As a strong advocate for releasing the Epstein files, it is only right that you adhere to the same standard set by you and Congress with respect to those with close ties to serial abusers.'
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Gallego's spokesman Jacques Petit said: 'Senator Gallego is under attack from right-wing conspiracy theorists like Anna Paulina Luna, the Trump Administration, and their cronies. This White House has made clear it is their priority to abuse their power and target political enemies. Senator Gallego will not stand for it.'
Precedent for Legal Defense Funds
It is not entirely without precedent for politicians facing inquiries to set up legal defense funds. In February, Democratic senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin set up defense funds after being accused of sedition by President Donald Trump. Last August, California Democrat Adam Schiff set up a fund in response to an investigation launched into his finances by the Department of Justice.
