Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado posted a video statement on X Sunday, where she accused the press of running a smear campaign, following her denial of allegations of having sexual relationships with three of her congressional staffers, which were brought up in a House ethics complaint.
Boebert posted the two-minute-plus video with the following caption: “Hey, ‘journalists!’ This one’s for you.”
In the video, the congresswoman speaks with emphatic gestures outdoors near a lake, often pointing at the camera and brushing her hair aside as she addresses journalists covering the case.
“Hey, journalists. Now that I’m finished with my more important task of the day, I have a few words for you. You all ran a smear and called it news. Some sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack stamps under oath on a fake filing so you’ll write penalty of perjury in the headline. Yeah, that’s the whole fr***ing trick. It’s a scam, and you fell for it,” Boebert says.
Then she goes on to the procedures for complaints to the House Committee on Ethics.
“No member of Congress certified in writing that his salacious BS 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 within 60 days of an election. That’s right. Ethics isn’t even allowed to accept this garbage. Yet all of you were more than willing to,” Boebert says.
Then Boebert continues criticizing newsrooms for including the names of the identified aides in the filing.
“Nobody in your newsroom checked the rulebook before they put my team’s names in your stories. Their photos are everywhere now, and they are under attack because of your laziness. You are all aware that this is coming from the same desperate hack CNN caught in 2022 publishing a photo of another woman as me and also failing to prove a host of other lies that he’s created about me. You ran this story anyway,” Boebert says.
“This is more filthy garbage that reaches beyond me. This reaches into the homes of people who have dedicated years of service to Coloradans alongside of me. I know that you’re more than willing to attack me and shame my household, but this is different, and you crossed a line. I hope you think about the impact that this could have on them and their families the next time you rush to print without doing a little bit of research,” Boebert continues.
She ends her speech by pledging to remain in office.
“So while you sit back and think of how you can do your jobs better. I am going to continue serving Colorado’s fourth district. I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but y’all need to do better. And to the people who have had my back, thank you. And I hope you see how desperate these fools are to get me out of office. And I got to say just one more thing before I sign off here to the rest of y’all. No, I’m not hiring.”
The complaint was filed Sept. 17 with the House Committee on Ethics by David B. Wheeler, founder of American Muckrakers, and names former District Director Clarice Navarro, current District Chief of Staff Raven Finegan, and former Chief of Staff Jeffrey Small. It alleges Boebert has sexual relations with the three aides and one of them receives a $200,000 payment. No evidence has been provided. Wheeler is a political activist and cofounder of American Muckrakers, a Democratic super PAC.
According to the rules adopted by the House in 2018, members may not have sexual relations with the employees they supervise, even with the consent, except for spouses.
Boebert denied the allegations Saturday. “Well, I’m not a lesbian or bisexual, and I have never, ever been in any inappropriate relationship, nor have I ever been sexually involved with any staff,” she told Sources Say News. A spokesperson for her office said in a statement that Boebert “rejects these allegations as utterly false and there is no truth to them whatsoever,” describing the filing as “a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her, and generate clickbait.”
Both of Boebert’s arguments above are included in the committee’s published procedures. A nonmember can submit a complaint to the committee if a member certifies in writing that the information is provided in good faith and should be reviewed and considered by the committee. The rules state that the committee must not accept and return to the complainant any complaints filed within 60 days of an election in which the subject is a candidate. Boebert is seeking reelection in November in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
That doesn’t mean the committee can’t take action on its own initiative or on referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics. Whether the committee started reviewing Boebert remains unknown.
Boebert’s reference to the 2022 incident points to earlier reports from the same complainant. In 2022, Wheeler published the information claiming that Boebert used to work as an escort, and his report was criticized afterward for containing images of another woman. Wheeler launched a website in June 2022 with that claim.
Others named in the filing have disputed the claim. Boebert’s ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, described the claims of the affair between Boebert and Navarro as “a fairy tale made up propaganda,” saying that the group relied on bad sources, according to the screenshots provided by American Muckrakers. Navarro Ratzlaff denied the allegations.
The complaint also claims an encounter involving Boebert, Navarro Ratzlaff, and former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Gaetz reacted to the report on X: “I am requesting that anyone with video of me in this alleged ‘threesome’ release said evidence IMMEDIATELY! Unedited, please.” Neither the group nor the complainant has claimed the existence of any such video, and none has appeared yet.
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