Doj Subpoenas Gallego’s Pac For Disneyland Records

Sen. Ruben Gallego’s leadership PAC has been subpoenaed as part of a federal investigation into the Arizona Democrat’s use of campaign cash to fund a luxurious lifestyle, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by POLITICO.

The Justice Department issued a federal grand jury subpoena — the existence of which has not been previously reported — on Aug. 21 to Gallego’s Juntos PAC. It demands that the PAC produce information related to “activities on or about” Sept. 9, 2025, as well as records and statements Gallego submitted to the Senate Ethics Committee related to its probe into allegations of misuse of campaign funds, which the panel dismissed in June.

The subpoena says it relates to an “ongoing criminal investigation” and that the requested records will be turned over to a grand jury. Its deadline was Sept. 4.

In a statement to POLITICO, Gallego spokesperson Jacques Petit said the “leadership PAC has complied with and responded to the Trump DOJ subpoena because it has nothing to hide.” Petit did not respond to a question about whether Gallego himself, his family, or any of his staff or campaign agents had also been subpoenaed.

The DOJ launched its probe into Gallego following a “whistleblower complaint” out of Southern California days after POLITICO reported that he had used campaign cash as what one person familiar with the senator’s spending called “his personal slush fund.” That included trips to St. Barts, Miami, Chicago, Disneyland and Disney World with his family, more than $18,000 in reimbursements for child care, and Super Bowl tickets with the disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

Federal Election Commission records show that Juntos PAC made more than 20 disbursements on Sept. 9, 2025, covering charges associated with a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. That includes two charges to Disney's Grand Californian Hotel of $891.87 and $128.73, and more than a dozen charges for meals which range in price from $6.50 to $186.24.

The subpoena came from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which serves Anaheim. That office is led by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, a fierce ally of President Donald Trump who remains the region’s top federal prosecutor despite federal rulings that he is unlawfully serving without Senate confirmation. Essayli and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

Gallego’s office confirmed to POLITICO that the senator and his family attended a retreat hosted by Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) at Disneyland and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel Aug. 1-3, 2025, for an annual fundraising retreat, which included 16 Democratic members of Congress and 36 representatives of leading companies. Gallego spoke at the event and urged attendees to donate to Correa and other congressional Democrats, his office said.

A spokesperson for Correa, whose district includes most of Anaheim, said the fifth-term congressman “holds an annual event where he invites many Congress members to his district to learn about his community and enjoy what his district has to offer. This event has always provided a local benefit to the community and its economy.”

“Attending a PAC retreat — as 16 members of Congress did for this trip alone — is appropriate and lawful under federal law, and we look forward to swiftly resolving this,” Petit said.

Lawmakers have broad latitude over how they use leadership PAC money as long as the covered activity has some fundraising function, and Democrats and Republicans frequently attend donor retreats at Disneyland and Disney World. As recently as this past August, Gallego headlined another “Weekend in Disneyland” hosted by Correa at the same hotel — and brought his wife and children, POLITICO previously reported. Correa and nine additional Democratic House members were also set to attend that event, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

But rarely do lawmakers lean so heavily on their campaign coffers to fund such frequent high-end family trips as Gallego, who criss-crosses the country to luxury resorts with his wife, children and au pair in tow. In a June public statement following reports by POLITICO, The New York Times and The Daily Beast, Gallego suggested he was being targeted for “fundraising as all politicians do, but doing it as the father of children under 10.” Gallego told an audience in June at the Latino Vote Summit in Washington that he “never would have ran for Senate if it wasn’t for me being able to use campaign dollars for child care.”

It is rarer still for the Justice Department to subpoena a U.S. senator — particularly one who is openly considering a 2028 presidential bid.

The Senate Ethics Committee in June said it “did not find evidence” to support allegations of campaign finance violations and inappropriate sexual conduct that were leveled against Gallego by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.). The DOJ launched its federal investigation shortly after, which Gallego’s office has called an example of political targeting “by the most weaponized Department of Justice in history.”