Sen. Ruben Gallego (D, Ariz.) arrives for the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, in Dirksen building, on April 21, 2026. —Tom Williams—CQ Roll Call/AP ImagesRuben Gallego, the Democratic Senator from Arizona and a possible 2028 presidential candidate, is being investigated by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice over suspected financial violations, following claims he used campaign cash to fund luxury trips.Gallego’s office has dismissed the investigation as the latest attempt by the White House to “weaponize” the department against the president’s political rivals.The probe, first reported by Axios, derives from a "whistleblower complaint" from Southern California, with the outlet citing an unnamed source familiar with the investigation.TIME did not immediately hear from the Justice Department when asked about the investigation into Gallego. However, reports in recent weeks have highlighted the senator's campaign spending, as well as his connection to former California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April amid sexual misconduct allegations and alleged misuse of campaign funds.Gallego’s office also did not immediately reply to TIME. But a spokesperson for the Senator told CNN that the Department of Justice probe was President Donald Trump’s way of “targeting” him. “Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption that’s raising costs for families, and instead targeting anyone who gets in their way — like the Federal Reserve, members of Congress doing their oversight duty, and now Senator Gallego,” the spokesperson said.Under Trump, the Justice Department has escalated its attempts to persecute the President’s adversaries, including former FBI director James Comey and Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll. Trump has not publicly reacted to reports of a DOJ investigation into the Arizona Senator. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a presidential memo in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2026. —Jacquelyn Martin—AP PhotoReports of a probe came after a Senate panel dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Gallego by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R, Fla.), a staunch Trump loyalist, who alleged campaign finance violations and inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature. In its letter, which Gallego’s office published, the Senate ethics committee said it “did not find evidence” that Gallego’s actions violated federal law, the chamber’s rules, or conduct standards.“The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies,” Gallego said in a statement.Who is Ruben Gallego?Gallego is a former Marine who was elected as U.S. Senator for Arizona in 2024 following a campaign that appealed to Latino voters — who leaned towards Trump nationwide during the presidential elections. Gallego was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2010, and won a seat in the U.S. House in 2014. He took over Kyrsten Sinema’s Senate seat in 2025, after beating the Trump-backed candidate Kari Lake in the election, bucking the trend of Democratic losses nationwide and putting him on the map as a 2028 presidential contender.Gallego is among the least wealthy U.S. Senators, according to a NOTUS data report, and his most recent financial disclosures show that his liabilities surpass his assets.Gallego was a long-time friend of former Rep. Swalwell and briefly chaired the latter’s short-lived 2020 presidential campaign. Following scandals this year that involved Swalwell and another House lawmaker, however, Gallego distanced himself from the embattled California legislator, claiming that the latter had lied to him. What have reports said about Gallego’s spending?Reports from Politico and The Daily Beast more than a week ago said that Gallego repeatedly used campaign funds for luxury trips with his wife and for child care since launching his Senate campaign in 2023.Politico, after a review of campaign finance records and also citing an unnamed source familiar with Gallego’s spending, said that he used his leadership political action committee to finance trips to Miami, Chicago, Disneyland and Disney World with his family.The New York Times on Monday also reported that, following a review of expenditure filings and travel records it obtained, the Senator had “repeatedly brought his family with him to vacation destinations and billed tens of thousands of dollars in flights to his campaign accounts just in 2025,” and that some of the trips align with personal events.“This is not breaking news,” Gallego told Politico. “With the rising costs of child care and the burden it has on the budgets of American families, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC.”The Federal Election Commission says campaign funds may be used to pay for the costs of travel for a candidate (and the candidate’s spouse and minor children), as well as child care, as long as the expenses are tied to political activities.Gallego, in a June 22 statement on social media, responded to the reports of his spending: “Because of my schedule and the laws passed that allow for it, I will at times bring my wife and children with me to these retreats and fundraisers. Are these at nice venues? Yes, it’s where the donors are, and it’s part of campaigning. I know people have opinions on that, but that’s the nature of the campaign system we have in our country.”