Ruben Gallego

In a statement, a Gallego spokesperson said President Donald Trump “is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption.” The spokesperson added that “It’s the least surprising news of the week that this comes immediately after the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Senator Gallego of rightwing smears pushed by the administration weeks ago.”

The Senate Ethics Committee on Monday dismissed allegations of campaign finance violations and inappropriate sexual conduct that were leveled by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), announcing that the panel “did not find evidence.”

News of the DOJ investigation comes a week after POLITICO reported that the Arizona Democrat tapped campaign cash for child care, family travel and Super Bowl tickets. Gallego used campaign funds to pay for recent trips to Miami, Chicago, Disneyland and Disney World with his family; pay both an au pair and his mother-in-law to care for his children; and attend the Super Bowl using a joint campaign committee with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned in disgrace earlier this year amid allegations of sexual assault and misuse of campaign funds.

Axios first reported the investigation’s existence Monday.

Federal lawmakers have few guardrails for using donor funds as long as they have a fundraising or campaign purpose, and it is common for lawmakers to tap those accounts to pay for child care during campaign events and meet with donors in upscale settings.

In a social media post addressing “these pieces swirling around” following POLITICO’s report, Gallego acknowledged that “I will at times bring my wife and children with me to these retreats and fundraisers,” adding that it’s “the nature of the campaign system we have in our country.”

“I never would have ran for Senate if it wasn’t for me being able to use campaign dollars for child care,” he told an audience in Washington last week.