Embattled senator sets up legal defense fund after his close friend Eric Swalwell quits Congress in disgrace

By RUTH STYLES, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 22:12, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 22:14, 29 May 2026 Ruben Gallego, the junior Democrat senator for Arizona, has quietly set up a legal defense fund – one month after best pal Eric Swalwell’s political career flamed amid a flurry of sex assault allegations. An IRS filing obtained by the Daily Mail shows Gallego, 46, quietly registered a tax-exempt trust on May 22 called ‘The Senator Ruben Gallego Legal Defense Fund’. The fund was registered as a 527 organization, a tax-exempt legal status for groups that get contributions or disburse money for political reasons. Gallego listed the registered address for his legal defense fund to an office building in Phoenix while the trustee is local Democrat apparatchik and former state senator Raquel Terán.  Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna publicly accused Gallego of sexual misconduct in April and sources inside the Gallego camp acknowledged to the Daily Mail that the fund had been set up in response to her claims.  They insisted she has provided no details or evidence concerning the allegation and said Gallego has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and is ‘fully complying’ with the ethics inquiry. Married dad-of-three Gallego is one of Swalwell’s closest friends and even chaired his abortive 2020 run for the Democrat presidential nomination. Swalwell also attended Gallego’s wedding to second wife Sydney Barron at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico in June 2021. Gallego (right) said his family and that of disgraced Representative Eric Swalwell were 'as close as it gets,' but Swalwell had lied to him about the accusations of sexual misconduct Swalwell and Gallego went on shirtless camel ride during a 2021  trip to Qatar. Swalwell's now estranged wife Brittany Watts (left) and Gallego's then fiancée Sydney Barron accompanied them The pair also took a freebie trip to Qatar together the following month along with their partners and were put up at the luxury Five Seasons hotel in Doha. Photos posted by Swalwell showed the pair shirtless and enjoying a camel ride with the Persian Gulf sparkling 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 went on: ‘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.’ The new fund would suggest Gallego is concerned about facing allegations of his own. He has a checkered personal life that includes dumping 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. Gallego  has a checkered personal life that includes dumping first wife Katie Wilson – now mayor of Phoenix – while she was pregnant with their son Michael Swalwell was a guest at Gallego's second marriage – to Baron – in Puerto Rico in 2022 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.’   While the Ethics Committee is 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 of raping a 25-year-old staffer in a New York hotel room. Gallego has been a frequent critic of President Trump and spoke at an event in Washington on May 20 against 'forever wars' Gallego met with former President Bill Clinton in Phoenix when the former president was campaigning on behalf of Kamala Harris's campaign for the White House Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna publicly accused Gallego of sexual misconduct against another woman on social media and in a CBS interview – claims he promptly denied Gallego's office confirmed he had set up a legal defense fund after Luna made her claims against him 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 him a letter demanding the release of all the 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.’ It is not entirely without precedent for politicians facing inquiries to set up legal defense funds. In February, Democrat senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin set up defense funds after being accused of sedition by President Donald Trump. And last August, California Democrat Adam Schiff set up a fund in response to an investigation launched into his finances by the Department of Justice. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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