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Dem who ripped rival’s donor-fueled ‘good life’ dropped campaign cash on Disney, spouse travel
A House Democrat accused a Republican rival of «living the good life» on donor money after her campaign reported Disney World spending, and she was allegedly seen returning from the theme park around the same time.
But Democratic Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s own records show nearly $20,000 in campaign spending around the same time on international and domestic trips with his wife, including his own visit to Disney World, a five-star hotel stay on the beach in the UAE and a Michelin-starred restaurant bill in Zurich.
Gonzalez made the jab at Republican Mayra Flores in October 2025, months after posting photos documenting his own two-day Disney World trip with his wife and several other associates on social media in April. The social media posts coincided with payments Gonzalez’s campaign made to the Florida theme park and resort around the same time, totaling more than $1,100.
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The Disney payments and photos were just one piece of a broader travel and hospitality spending trail from Gonzalez’s campaign reviewed by Digital. His campaign reported thousands of dollars in expenses at upscale restaurants and hotels from Washington and Texas, to California and Europe, alongside campaign spending on multiple overseas trips during which Gonzalez’s wife accompanied, or appeared to accompany, the congressman, according to posts Gonzalez shared on social media.
During one 2024 trip to the UAE that utilized campaign funds and coincided with social media posts in the same location posted on Gonzalez’s Facebook, more than $13,000 in airfare and hotel expenses were spent. Gonzalez described apparent photos of the trip on social media as an «after campaign break,» and his posts showed the congressman with his wife doing various sightseeing activities and one photo from a bed inside a top-floor luxury hotel room next to the beach.
The fifth-term Democrat representative is fighting to hold his South Texas seat against Republican Eric Flores in November after the GOP candidate defeated Mayra Flores and a crowded Republican field earlier this year. The race has drawn national attention as both parties battle for the district and Gonzalez enters the final stretch with a significant campaign cash advantage.
Gonzalez took aim at rival Mayra Flores in 2025, suggesting she was potentially using campaign funds to travel to Disney World with her kids. In an October 2025 social media post, Gonzalez shared a photo of her at Dallas Love Field Airport with two young family members, a Disney World bag and stuffed animals. Gonzalez captioned the photo «living the good life on donor’s resources again» and cited a report that found payments to Disney World from her campaign around the same time as the photos.
But federal campaign finance records show Gonzalez’s own campaign reported a combined $1,122.76 went to Walt Disney Resorts on March 24, 2025, and May 27, 2025, around the same time he posted photos on social media from a two-day trip to Walt Disney World with his own family on April 26, 2025.
«DC to Disney! What a fantastic 2 days,» Gonzalez posted on Facebook alongside a photo of himself, his wife and several others.
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Federal campaign finance rules do not prohibit campaigns from paying travel expenses simply because a candidate’s spouse or children accompany them. The FEC allows campaign funds to cover travel for candidates, their spouses and minor children when the trip is directly related to campaign activity or the candidate’s official responsibilities as a federal officeholder.
Campaign funds cannot, however, be used to pay for personal vacations or other family expenses that would have existed regardless of the candidate’s campaign or official duties. When a trip mixes campaign or official business with personal activities, the campaign must be reimbursed for the costs attributable to the personal portion.
«Every dollar this campaign spends is legal and publicly disclosed, and these reports come straight from our own FEC filings,» Gonzalez’s campaign manager, Alex Philley, told Digital in a statement when asked about the campaign spending.
«The spending South Texans are worried about is their own on higher costs driven by Trump’s agenda that Eric Flores would proudly rubber-stamp.»
Gonzalez’s FEC filings identify two $561.38 Disney payments, one from March 2025 and another from May 2025, only as «travel expenses,» leaving unclear from the public disclosures what campaign or official activity the expenditures were connected to.
When asked specifically about this trip, Philley said it was tied to «a very important Financial Services trip» with Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, of which Gonzalez is a member.
Philley said the campaign’s spending on international trips where Gonzalez’s wife was present had been tied to official business as well, including a visit with the Pope, although he did not address each trip separately when asked about them.
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES
For example, Gonzalez traveled with his wife to Morocco in mid-2019 under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, or MECEA, which allows members of Congress to accept travel from foreign governments for approved cultural exchanges.
Campaigns are allowed to pay for their spouses to join them, but only if the spouse is performing bona fide official responsibilities. Diplomatic and ceremonial protocol for certain events or campaign office functions like managing travel logistics are often cited as reasons for why spouses need to attend.
Gonzalez’s campaign reported paying $4,767.53 for his «spouse travel expense» in connection with the 2019 MECEA trip to Morocco, according to FEC records.
In December 2024, the campaign reported $12,810 to Emirates Airlines and $359.27 at a luxury five-star Abu Dhabi hotel called Emirates Towers in «officially connected» CODEL expenses. While the campaign funds for the trip did not explicitly name Gonzalez’s wife, photos from Gonzalez’s social media page showed several images of him and his wife in Abu Dhabi around the same time as his campaign’s payments, including a photo from the top floor of what appeared to be a luxury, beachfront hotel. The pair also appeared in photos exploring the city and sightseeing around the time of the payments.
SQUAD DEM IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER SPENDING SPREE AT LUXURY HOTELS: ‘CHAMPAGNE SOCIALIST’
«Finally, an after campaign break!» Gonzalez captioned the photos, one of which showed him holding an exotic bird. Other photos posted around that time by Gonzalez’s campaign page showed him visiting U.S. troops in the Middle East and meeting with other officials. Other photos showed Gonzalez and his wife at the «4th largest and most modern Mosque in the world» in Abu Dhabi.
The international travel continued in August 2025, when Gonzalez posted a photo with his wife in Zurich, Switzerland. Campaign records subsequently showed a $566.67 expense to Swiss Air and another $395 «Travel Expense» at La Rôtisserie in Zurich, a one-Michelin-star restaurant. The records did not explicitly indicate the expenses were used to pay for Gonzalez’s wife.
Weeks earlier, Gonzalez appeared to engage in international luxury travel paid for by his campaign. FEC records for Gonzalez’s campaign reveal a $442.41 «Travel Expense» at the five-star luxury Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel in Rome the same week he posted a photo of himself on social media meeting with the Pope in 2025.
«This was not a vacation,» Philley said in a statement to Digital about the trip. «You may want to ask the committee why they booked this hotel. This was not the congressman’s choice; he only had to pay for it.»
Between 2024 and 2026, Gonzalez’s campaign also reported thousands of dollars in expenditures at upscale restaurants, hotels and resorts around the country, including around $4,000 at The Capital Grille in Washington, D.C., along with spending at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood in Houston and several other high-end D.C. restaurants.
Recently, Gonzalez’s campaign reported a $1,019 expense at California’s Ojai Valley Inn, a Forbes Travel Guide-recognized luxury resort sprawling across 220 acres with a spa, four pools and a championship-caliber golf course and more than $1,400 at Pennsylvania’s Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa, an AAA Four Diamond property featuring a 30,000-square-foot spa, golf course and indoor and outdoor pools.
campaigning, democratic party, texas, democrats, corruption
INTERNACIONAL
Woman, 87, dies after being carried from home of 70 years on stretcher during eviction in Spain
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The death of an 87-year-old woman who was evicted from her longtime home has intensified a political crisis in Spain, where nationwide protests over soaring housing costs have helped force an early election.
María del Carmen Abascal, known as «Maricarmen,» died Wednesday after being hospitalized following her eviction from a Madrid apartment where she had lived for seven decades, according to The Associated Press.
Her death came just days after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election for Nov. 29 after his government’s failure to pass emergency housing measures through Parliament.
The controversy has put renewed pressure on Sánchez’s Socialist Party as Spain grapples with widespread frustration over rising rents and housing affordability.
SPANISH OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS PRIME MINISTER A ‘TRAITOR’ OVER CEUTA MIGRANT CRISIS
People rally in downtown Madrid, Spain, to honor the memory of Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction from her home sparked nationwide protests Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
At the center of the uproar was Abascal’s Sept. 23 eviction, which drew national attention after images showed the elderly woman, who used a wheelchair, being carried from her apartment on a stretcher.
Police had cordoned off the street and removed demonstrators who attempted to stop the eviction.
The images sparked demonstrations in Madrid and other Spanish cities, turning Abascal into a symbol of the country’s housing crisis.
The real estate company responsible for her eviction had sought to lease the apartment at a substantially higher price, according to the AP.
ANGRY LOCALS BLOCK FAMOUS BEACH AS MASS TOURISM PROTESTS ESCALATE AT VACATION HOT SPOT
A view of the door of the home from which Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted, sparking nationwide protests, with a sign reading «Rest in peace, Maricarmen,» in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026 (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Facing mounting public pressure, the company eventually agreed to allow Abascal to return to her home. She died before she could move back.
Her cause of death has not been disclosed.
After news of her death, demonstrators gathered outside Spain’s Parliament and in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, where some observed a minute of silence.
Protesters also chanted, «Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!»
TENS OF THOUSANDS FLOOD STREETS TO PROTEST SPAIN BORDER CRISIS
A woman places flowers in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, near the entrance to the building where Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her home, sparking nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Sánchez offered condolences in a statement on X.
«All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones,» he wrote. «A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace.»
Conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also expressed condolences and urged political leaders not to use the woman’s death for political gain.
«No campaign, no party, no use for political advantage,» he wrote. «When faced with the death of a person, we must only show respect.»
Abascal’s eviction and death have become a rallying point for housing activists demanding changes to Spain’s rental policies as the country prepares for its November election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
spain, world, housing, world protests
INTERNACIONAL
Minnesota Senate hopeful warns threat level rising amid rash of Somali gang crime, terror plot
The Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota is sounding the alarm about crime levels in the state amid a wave of Somali gang violence and a foiled terror plot by an American born to Somali parents.
«I hear a lot of concerns from Minnesotans on the campaign trail about crime, and no matter what form that crime takes, Minnesotans know that they feel under a level of threat that has increased lately here in Minnesota, and in the last week and just today,» Michele Tafoya, running as a Republican against Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, told Digital on Wednesday. «We saw the arrest of an 18-year-old Somali American citizen to Somali parents arrested for a terrorist — planning a terrorist attack — at the Mall of America during a Hmong celebration.»
The suspect in that alleged terror plot is 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, born in the United States to Somali nationals who are naturalized American citizens, law enforcement sources told Digital. Federal court documents said that Mohamud was arrested after purchasing an AK-47-style rifle, magazines and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent whom he believed to be a loyal ISIS member.
MALL OF AMERICA TERROR PLOT THWARTED, SUSPECTED ISIS SYMPATHIZER ARRESTED, FBI ANNOUNCES
The FBI alleges Mohamud had digital communications beginning in December 2024 with a confidential human source he believed was a member of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist terror group and offshoot of ISIS.
«I can’t wait until I kill kuffar man. October 24 is the day insha Allah,» one of the messages said. «Kuffar» is a term used to refer to non-Muslims, and «insha Allah» means «God willing.»
The Hmong people are indigenous to Southeast Asia and boast a relatively large population in the United States.
«We have a large Hmong community here in Minnesota as well, and he basically stated that he wanted to take out anyone who was not a Muslim. He also noted that the Mall of America is owned by people who are Jewish,» Tafoya said. «And so this was his plan, and thank goodness for the FBI in Minneapolis here and local law enforcement for catching onto this plan and derailing it well in advance. This is a guy who has pledged his allegiance to ISIS. Again, he is of Somalian descent and terror is alive and well and thank God we averted this massive crisis.»
TAFOYA MAKES ‘COMMON SENSE’ PITCH TO DISAFFECTED DEMOCRATS AS SHE VOWS TO FIGHT MINNESOTA’S ‘SOCIALIST LURCH’
The thwarted plot follows a rash of gang violence attributed to Somalis by law enforcement in the suburbs of Minneapolis.
Police in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, said a shooting during the local high school’s homecoming celebration last week was carried out by rival Somali gangs. Similarly, a shooting at a Bloomington, Minnesota, gas station over the weekend was attributed to Somali gangs. In the latter incident, more than 100 rounds of ammunition were fired.
«And we have had Somali-related — Somali gang-related — attacks here locally in our suburbs at a high school football game during homecoming, at a Catholic Church parking lot, at a gas station, and this is all just really started to peak here in the last couple of weeks. So it’s undeniable. Our law enforcement here are calling it out as the product of Somali gang violence, and we’ve got to identify it, and we have to find a way to deal with it.»
Tafoya also mentioned the Somali fraud scandals have enveloped Minnesota this year.
BILL MAHER RIPS IMMIGRANTS WHO REFUSE TO ADAPT, SAYS AMERICAN VALUES ARE ‘NOT NEGOTIABLE’
«I don’t know how you can legislate that assimilation, but we simply cannot tolerate the level of crime,» she said. «We’ve seen it with fraud here. It’s in the paperwork that the Feeding Our Future fraud was largely … in terms of percentage, probably 98%, Somali people involved in that fraud,» she said.
«What I do think is any guests of this country who commits crime should be sent home with no pathway back,» she said. «If you’re coming here to be a guest of this country or to live in this country you cannot break our laws, and if you’re an American, you cannot break our laws, period.»
Tafoya is not against immigration, noting that she’s the granddaughter of immigrants, and she has an adoptive Colombian daughter who is as patriotic as they come.
But she’s not going to stop in her mission to battle crime, no matter the background of the criminals, she said. She plans to be an «equal opportunity pain in the a–» to all of them, specifically mentioning corrupt politicians.
«I’m going to represent Minnesotans and Americans, and so there’s, there’s not going to be any limit on the way that I see crime. Crime is crime, and it’s going to be committed by a wide variety of people, and they all need to be held accountable and accountability has been in short supply here in Minnesota.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
politics, terrorism, terror, minnesota, migrant crime
INTERNACIONAL
Balotaje en Brasil: Flávio Bolsonaro aventajó por cuatro puntos a Lula da Silva en el primer sondeo y sumó un respaldo clave
El senador ultraderechista Flávio Bolsonaro lidera el primer sondeo de cara a la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales de Brasil, con el 49% de la intención de voto, frente al 45% que recibe el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
La primera encuesta de intención de voto previa a la segunda vuelta el 25 de octubre, divulgada este jueves por Datafolha, indica una diferencia de 4 puntos porcentuales entre ambos candidatos.
Según la encuestadora, ambos estarían técnicamente empatados, ya que el margen de error es de dos puntos porcentuales a más o a menos.
Poco después de anunciarse el sondeo, el candidato presidencial brasileño Augusto Cury, tercero en el primer turno, anunció su apoyo a Flávio Bolsonaro de cara al balotaje. Cury obtuvo el 2,89% de los sufragios, con 3.348.569 votos.
En una nota de su campaña divulgada este jueves, Cury afirmó que su apoyo no constituye “un cheque en blanco” y que estará sujeto al cumplimiento de principios como el de la transparencia, la responsabilidad fiscal y el respeto a las instituciones democráticas
El 94% de los encuestados ya decidió su voto
De acuerdo con el sondeo, un 5% de los encuestados pretende votar en blanco o anular su voto y solo un 1% dice que aún está indeciso.
Entre los que ya eligieron a un candidato, un 94% asegura que está totalmente decidido de su voto y un 6% admite que aún pueden cambiar.
Bolsonaro, aspirante por el ultraderechista Partido Liberal (PL), fue el más votado en la primera vuelta del pasado domingo, con el 47,03% de los votos, y Lula, postulado a la reelección por el progresista Partido de los Trabajadores (PT), lo siguió con el 45,16%.
El resultado de las urnas, sin embargo, contradijo las previsiones de todas las encuestas, que proyectaban un empate técnico pero con el líder progresista en primer lugar.
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