A Republican Texas state representative is battling accusations that he paid for abortions for a former stripper despite being anti-abortion in his political life.
Alex Grace accused Texas Rep. Giovanni Capriglione of paying for abortions and revealed that she had allegedly maintained a long-term affair with him, beginning approximately in 2004. Capriglione told the Texas Tribune that he admitted to having an affair but that he had never paid for an abortion.
The Republican said that the ‘campaign of smears and slander’ would only lead him to fight harder.
Capriglione had announced that he would not be seeking re-election just days before the story dropped.
Grace spoke to the Current Revolt, a right-wing outlet, which first published the allegations as well as a video of an interview with the former exotic dancer. She said that she became “close friends” with Capriglione after meeting him at a strip club where she worked.
“He was magnetizing. He was outwardly genuine and kind,” she said. “He was the one who reminded me to keep my head up. He was the one that encouraged me. He pushed me to succeed more in life.”
Grace claimed that Capriglione told her his wife was aware of the relationship with Grace and even encouraged him to visit the red light district in Amsterdam, where prostitution is legal. The Republican allegedly would leave money in an envelope beneath a rubber mat near a dumpster behind a local Chuck E. Cheese for her to find, in order to fund their “meetups” and the abortions.
The former exotic dancer said they drifted apart after he became a politician, and she grew angry at his political stances. He allegedly stopped talking to her after she said to him via phone that he should “stick to who you are.”
She added, “If you are using abortions for your personal gain, if you are using women for your personal gain, why announce to the world that this isn’t who you are?”
Grace is also a mother to four children.
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Capriglione has threatened legal action over the report.
The Republican said in a statement that the “campaign of smears and slander” would only lead him to fight harder. At least one other Texas state Republican has called for him to step down and requested an investigation into the allegations.
Capriglione has a year and a half left in his seventh term.
Blaze News reached out to Capriglione’s office for comment about the alleged abortions but did not hear back by time of publishing.
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