‘Pro-Life' Republican Accused of Paying for Stripper's Abortions
Alex Grace, a former exotic dancer, alleged she had a nearly two-decade-long affair with state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione. Capriglione admitted that he had an affair 'years ago,' but denied ever paying for an abortion.
Grace went public with the allegations on Friday, with the conservative outlet Current Revolt publishing an extensive interview with her about the alleged 17-year affair. She continued to post online over the weekend, detailing more specific allegations.
Her bombshell claims came just three days after Capriglione announced he would not seek re-election in 2026.
Grace claims she met Capriglione in 2004 when she was 18 years old. She said he came to a club where she worked, appearing to be a 'very straight-laced businessman,' and that he would visit every few weeks.
She said after initially becoming 'close friends,' she and Capriglione developed a relationship and started meeting up in several places, including his home and office. Grace claimed that Capriglione told her his wife was aware of the relationship.
Nevertheless, Grace claimed Capriglione was paranoid about them being seen together and would use a burner email account to communicate with her. In one incident, she said, he instructed her to go to an address to meet up—which turned out to be a Chuck E. Cheese.
'He told me to go to the back of the building and next to the dumpster there would be a rubber mat,' Grace said Capriglione told her. 'Look under it, and under this rubber mat was an envelope with money.'
Capriglione, who represents part of the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs and is Chair of the Texas House's DOGE Committee, describes himself as a 'pro-life champion' who 'voted to defund Planned Parenthood and authored the Abortion Trigger Ban Bill, which banned abortion in Texas when Roe v. Wade was overturned.'
After having 'one-on-one meetups' with Capriglione for nearly two decades, Grace says she hit a breaking point over the Republican's anti-abortion politics—despite paying for her to have 'several.'
Pressed for further details by Current Revolt, Grace said: 'You're just going to have to go with my word.'
Capriglione responded to Grace's allegations in a lengthy statement on Friday, which he sent to Texas Tribune reporter Renzo Downey after setting his official account to private.
In the statement, Capriglione admitted to having an extramarital affair but pushed back on 'appalling gutter politics.'
'Years ago, I selfishly had an affair. I'm not proud of this. Thank God my wife and family forgave me, and we moved past it,' wrote Capriglione. The rest, he said, is 'categorically false and easily disproven,' adding that he would be 'pursuing my legal remedies.'
'I have never, nor would I ever, pay for an abortion,' Capriglione said.
The Daily Beast has contacted Grace and Capriglione for comment.
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