After months of ignoring questions and concerns regarding James Talarico’s romantic relationship with a former member of his Texas House staffer Brianna Menard, his campaign has finally confirmed that the pair’s relationship began while Menard worked in Talarico’s office.

The Talarico campaign had previously suggested that Menard, who had worked in Talarico’s office from March 2020 until January 2023, did not begin a relationship with Talarico until leaving his office to work for Texas State Representative Salman Bhojani as his office’s chief of staff. According to a statement from Bhojani, Talarico himself reached out to secure Menard a position in Bhojani’s office shortly after his election.

When Talarico opened up about his relationship in an interview, the Talarico campaign attempted to portray the relationship as having begun shortly after Menard left his office. 

“After they developed feelings for each other, she left the office to pursue other opportunities and have been together ever since,” the San Antonio Current said of the start of their relationship.

Discrepancies in the timeline provided by the Talarico campaign led to prior Townhall reporting revealing that Talarico and Menard had likely begun dating while Menard was employed by Talarico, and that Talarico had used his influence to secure his girlfriend another taxpayer-funded job in the Texas House.

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Now, through a confirmation to the New York Times, the Talarico campaign is finally admitting that the pair began dating while Menard worked as Talarico’s chief of staff, confirming numerous ethical concerns about the candidate.

To make matters worse, Menard is not the first Texas House staffer who Talarico kindled a romantic relationship with. Townhall previously reported that Talarico had a relationship with a staffer in a different office prior to his relationship with Menard. The second woman who Talarico dated would eventually find employment with the Texas House Democratic Caucus and receive thousands of dollars in payments.

Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego recently battled a similar scandal after it was alleged that he had dated two staffers employed in separate congressional offices. Talarico is now confirmed to have been engaged in a relationship directly with a member of his staff and the media is completely silent.