Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert has forcefully denied allegations that she had affairs with male and female staffers, denouncing the claims as “salacious bull****.”
The Colorado Republican issued a video response Sunday after David Wheeler, co-founder of Democratic-aligned PAC American Muckrakers, filed a House Ethics Committee complaint on September 17, alleging she had sexual relationships with three employees.
“Hey journalists… I have a few words for you,” Boebert said in the roughly two-minute video, which has since been viewed over two million views on X. “You all ran a smear and called it news... It’s a scam. And you fell for it.”
She continued: “No member of Congress certified in writing that his salacious, bull**** attack was made in good faith and warrants review as required by ethics. And it’s evident that you didn’t even bother to look up House Ethics Committee rules that clearly state the committee can’t even accept a complaint filed inside 60 days of an election.”
Under House Ethics Committee rules, an elected official must certify that a complaint submitted by a nonmember was made in good faith. The rules bar the committee from accepting nonmember complaints within 60 days of an election, where the subject is a candidate. Boebert is up for reelection in November.
In 2018, following the #MeToo movement, the House barred members from having sexual relationships with employees they supervise. There is an exception if the two individuals are married.
The complaint, first reported by the Colorado Times Recorder, alleges Boebert had relationships with her former district director Clarice Navarro, her chief of staff Raven Finegan and her former chief of staff Jeffrey Small. Some encounters allegedly took place during official hours, in a district office and in hotel rooms paid for by a campaign committee.
The complaint further alleges that a $200,000 payment was arranged for Navarro in order to “secure her silence” after she threatened to file her own ethics complaint. Navarro has called the claims “entirely false and defamatory,” according to the outlet.
Boebert, 39, who divorced from her husband in 2023, lambasted the media for targeting her employees in her video.
“Nobody in your newsroom checked the rulebook before they put my teams’ names in your stories,” she said. “Their photos are everywhere now. And they are under attack because of your laziness.”
She further noted that Wheeler has a history of making allegations against her, describing him as a “sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack.” In 2022, Wheeler alleged that Boebert had worked as an escort, according to the Colorado Times Recorder. Boebert denied the allegation and obtained a temporary restraining order against Wheeler.
“I know that you’re more than willing to attack me and shame my household, but this is different and you crossed a line,” Boebert said in Sunday’s X video.
In a statement to Newsweek on Sunday, Wheeler said: “Ms. Boebert runs her classic denial scheme learned straight out of the swamp and carried out by her minions... She deflects and tries to make the allegations about me."
“Boebert truly believes she is not accountable for her actions, nor do the laws apply to her,” he added.
Boebert was first elected in 2020 and was initially among President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress. She had campaigned on being anti-abortion, a supporter of gun rights and focused on conservative family values.
But she drew Trump’s ire earlier this year after joining several Republicans who helped force a House vote to require the Justice Department to release the Epstein Files.
Trump later threatened to back a primary challenger after Boebert campaigned with Representative Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who has become one of Trump’s most outspoken GOP critics. She has also broken with Trump over spending on the Iran war.
In August, her 21-year-old son was arrested on child exploitation charges.
“I love my son. We take these allegations very seriously and pray for everyone affected during this challenging time,” Boebert told The Independent at the time.
