Conservative news site seeks to open divorce records for Ruben Gallego, Kate Gallego

A conservative Washington, D.C., news organization has asked a Yavapai County judge to open the sealed divorce records involving U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and his ex-wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.

No records of the matter, including the request by the Washington Free Beacon, were publicly available Friday because all documents are part of the sealed case, a clerk with the Yavapai court said.

The Free Beacon has argued that it sought the records because Ruben Gallego’s behavior is a matter of public interest. Gallego is a U.S. House Democrat from Arizona.

The Free Beacon said, as has Arizona Republican Senate front-runner Kari Lake, that the couple split up when Kate Gallego was nine months pregnant.

Ruben Gallego has attributed the divorce to his post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in the Iraq War and acknowledged in an interview with the Washington Post having “extreme outbursts,” the Free Beacon argues.

“What was the nature of these ‘extreme outbursts’? Did they result in physical threats or violence?” the Free Beacon wrote in an article explaining its request.

In a lengthy statement Friday, Ruben Gallego blamed the Free Beacon’s legal effort on Lake and said it was an attack on his family that jeopardizes his son’s safety.

"When she got into this race, I fully expected Kari Lake to go after me — but attacking my family is beyond the pale. The details of how Kate and I raise our 7-year-old son, including where he will be and when, are not for public consumption," he said. "This disgusting political stunt does nothing but endanger his safety and put him at risk. It is shameful that anyone would stoop this low, but I’m not surprised to see this from Kari. What is surprising is watching so many people fan the flames of her bad behavior."

Kate Gallego, who supports keeping the records sealed, similarly blasted the effort as "the worst kind of sleaze" and also linked it to Lake.

“When Ruben and I ended our marriage, we agreed how we’d parent our son, and that’s laid out in our private divorce records," she said in a written statement. "Now Kari Lake and her allies are trying to make those records political fodder, which won’t help her and would only hurt our son and put his safety at risk. It’s the worst kind of sleaze, and speaks volumes about the people who are behind this effort and those in the media who give it credibility and attention.”

The Lake campaign declined to respond, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the arm of the party that works to elect GOP senators, did.

“How in the world would unsealing a divorce record jeopardize the safety of a child?" asked Mike Berg, the NRSC's communications director.

According to the Free Beacon, the Gallegos have argued to keep their case sealed, noting that the sealed information “does not include allegations of abuse or misconduct.”

“Any interest that Free Beacon has in the information is minimal, given its highly personal nature unrelated to Rep. Gallego and Mayor Gallego’s roles as elected officials,” a lawyer for one of the Gallegos wrote, according to the Free Beacon.

Berg defended the Washington Free Beacon's legal action.

"Ruben Gallego is clearly worried that if the truth comes out about why he abandoned his wife when she was nearly nine months pregnant it will be the end of his political career," Berg said in a written statement. "Arizonans deserve full transparency from their public officials, and it is deeply concerning that Gallego is attacking hardworking journalists for seeking answers.”

The Gallegos split in December 2016 after six years of marriage. It was an event that Kate Gallego, then the vice mayor of Phoenix, wrote about on Facebook.

“It is painful when any marriage ends, and it is not something that I ever wanted or expected,” she wrote. “Although we are both public officials, we consider this a completely private matter and neither Ruben nor I will be answering further questions. Instead, I will focus every ounce of energy I have preparing for the birth of our son in January and being the best possible mother I can for him.”

Ruben Gallego added a social media message of his own at the time.

“I’m sad to announce that my marriage is ending. Kate and I hope to keep this a private matter and appreciate your respect for our privacy.”

Their son is now 7.

In his book “They Called Us Lucky,” Ruben Gallego briefly mentioned his divorce and its timing.

“Not to give the entire plot away, but we get married and inevitably drift apart and finally divorce at what outsiders might think is the worst possible time. Yet we remain friends, share in each other’s lives, and we certainly support each other’s careers. But the terms of our relationship now are utterly different.”

They dated before he served in the war. They were married when he struggled to come to terms with that experience.

“I don’t dare say I’m beyond dealing with Iraq and the war. It’s not superstition. It’s an acknowledgment that intense experiences shape you intensely, and are never really done with you even though you wish to be done with them.”

In December, Kate Gallego endorsed Ruben Gallego in his bid for the Senate seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

“I’m proud to endorse Ruben because I know first-hand his commitment to building a brighter future for Arizona,” Kate Gallego said at the time in a written statement.

After Ruben Gallego criticized Lake over her support for abortion restrictions, Lake highlighted Ruben Gallego’s failed marriage. In a social media post, she wrote that he “abandoned his wife when she was nine months pregnant with his first child.”

Republic reporter Taylor Seely contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Washington Free Beacon wants to unseal Ruben Gallego's divorce records