Democratic Sen. Gallego establishes legal defense fund as he gears up to fight ethics complaint

Arizona Democratid Sen. Ruben Gallego has filed paperwork to form a legal defense fund in response to allegations of sexual misconduct. 

The filing Friday follows Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna recently asking Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to look into "very disturbing" allegations against a senator, whom she later identified as Gallego in a CBS News interview. 

Luna said that some of the allegations are "sexual in nature," and others involve violations of campaign finance laws. Thune had previously told reporters that Luna's allegations had been referred to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, NOTUS reported. 

Gallego's office said that the fund was specifically set up in response to Luna's ethics filing, because the senator is "under attack from right-wing conspiracy theorists like Anna Paulina Luna, the Trump Administration, and their cronies." 

An Gallego spokesperson has denied the allegations. 

The senator came under scrutiny when California Rep. Eric Swalwell, with whom Gallego had a close personal and professional relationship, was forced to resign last month from Congress amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment.