Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, has been accused of using campaign funds to finance luxury trips with his family and cover childcare costs, according to campaign finance filings and a source familiar with his finances.

Allegations of Misuse

Gallego’s leadership PAC has paid for trips to the Caribbean island getaway of Saint Barthélemy, Disneyland, Disney World, Miami, and Chicago, with finance filings showing that he often brought his family along for the luxury jaunts, using donor cash to pay for babysitting services.

A source familiar with Gallego’s spending told Politico that the lawmaker would often use campaign cash to live a luxury lifestyle, stating, ‘He just spends his campaign account like it’s his personal slush fund.’ Campaign finance records show that Gallego’s leadership PAC and his campaign have collectively paid over $18,000 to cover childcare costs, including a $400 payment to his wife’s mother.

Gallego has dismissed the allegations, stating that the expenses for child care and family travel are permitted by the FEC, and that Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children.

Joint Fundraising Committee

In one campaign expense, Gallego and former Representative Eric Swalwell established a joint fundraising committee that they then used to pay for tickets to watch Super Bowl LVII in 2023. The event, which cost over $37,000, was billed as a fundraising operation where they recruited donors to attend the game and have brunch with them in exchange for a sufficiently high campaign contribution.

The duo of lawmakers each profited just under $8,000 from the event, effectively shuttering the joint committee after the game. A Gallego spokesperson told Politico that the ‘tickets were purchased at fair market value’ and that ‘hosting donors and supporters at sporting events in their areas is a common, bipartisan practice.’

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.