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Senator Gallego’s Use of Campaign Funds for Family Trips Prompts Scrutiny
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and potential 2028 presidential candidate, has charged his campaign accounts for expensive expenses including Super Bowl tickets, luxury travel, Ritz-Carlton stays, and child care since 2019.
- Such expenditures are common in Congress, where members often host lavish fundraising events and increasingly spend on child care to balance family and political duties.
- Gallego defended the spending as legal and appropriate for fundraising, noting that bringing family to events occurs because donors frequent upscale venues.
- The Justice Department is investigating Gallego for suspected campaign finance violations, though the Senate Ethics Committee recently cleared him of such violations in a separate inquiry.
- Gallego’s spokesman called the Justice Department probe politically motivated, citing former President Trump’s use of the department against political opponents.
