A U.S. senator among the first Democratic stalwarts to support Graham Platner’s nascent Senate bid used campaign funds for family plane tickets, new records show.
Ruben Gallego was already under Justice Department scrutiny for questionable use of campaign money.
The New York Post is now reporting new allegations that campaign funds may have been unlawfully used to pay for plane tickets for his sister-in-law and babysitter.
Previously unreported records reviewed by The Post indicate that the then-senator-elect’s campaign spent $1,227 on airfare in late 2024 for his sister-in-law to visit Washington and another $777.91 for Gallego’s Brazilian au pair to fly in from Mexico City ahead of his January 2025 swearing-in.
Then-U.S. Rep. Gallego (D-Ariz.) also billed his campaign $661.51 for custom stationery to announce his daughter’s birth in July 2023, according to Post reporter Steven Nelson.
The new revelations come two months after reports by Politico and the New York Times revealed Gallego blew tens of thousands of dollars in leadership PAC and campaign funds on family trips – and reporting by Axios and CBS News that the Justice Department is investigating that spending.
The criminal investigation is believed to be at an early stage, but a Post source familiar with Gallego’s profligate spending said that the details reported by the paper could bolster allegations of wrongdoing.
Gallego claims that he may be entitled to using campaign money for child care and possibly additional expenses.
The list of previously reported family trips billed to the campaign included visits to both Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California and to the exclusive islands of St. Barts in the Caribbean and Nantucket in Massachusetts, plus the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona.
Gallego gave a huge early boost to Platner’s ill-fated Senate campaign when Democratic leaders were favoring his then-opponent, five-term Gov. Janet Mills.
The Arizona senator finally pulled the plug on Platner after several women accused him of abusive or illegal behavior towards them.
