Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, herself a member of the Republican Party, called on her fellow Republican colleague, Lauren Boebert, and her staff on Sunday to seek the legal advice of attorneys and consider pursuing defamation lawsuits after she filed an ethics complaint that accuses the Colorado congresswoman of sexual liaisons with three of her aides.
Sharing the information on the microblogging platform X, Mace commented on the video Boebert posted earlier in the day, in which Boebert alleged that journalists were spreading smears about her. “I hope all of you have grounds to sue the s*** out of this guy and anyone that spread this garbage. The standard for defamation is easier for your employees. Defamation per se is more difficult for a public figure (I know this all too well). I’d get an attorney involved asap,” Mace wrote.
In the message, she touched on a crucial issue in American defamation law. As it follows from the Supreme Court’s decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964 and further decisions, public officials and public figures need to prove that a false statement was made with actual malice (knowledge that the statement was made falsely or with reckless disregard for its truth). For private individuals, the standard of proof may be easier in most states.
Nancy Mace has already been engaged in such disputes in the past. In May 2025, she filed a lawsuit against Eric Bernard Bowman for making false and malicious statements about her. Previously in 2025, she was sued for defamation by Brian Musgrave, one of the four men she accused of sexual assault in a House floor speech. The suit was dismissed in August 2025 because the judge found the case could not proceed under federal law, which allows the Justice Department, representing her, to act without her consent when she acts within the scope of her official duties. In other words, the judge did not decide whether Mace’s statements were defamatory.
The central allegation appears in the complaint filed with the House Committee on Ethics on September 17 by David B. Wheeler, founder of the Democratic super PAC American Muckrakers. It mentions former District Director Clarice Navarro, current District Chief of Staff Raven Finegan, and former Chief of Staff Jeffrey Small, accusing Boebert of having sexual relations with the three aides, two of whom are women. According to the complaints, the Congresswoman paid $200,000 to one of her aides. The allegations have not yet been proved, and the Committee has not confirmed whether it is considering them.
According to the ethics rules adopted by the House of Representatives in 2018, a member is prohibited from having sexual relationships with their subordinates even with their consent, except in the case when they are married to each other.
The congresswoman herself refuted these allegations on 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,” Lauren Boebert told Sources Say News. The spokesperson for the congresswoman’s office called the filing “a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her, and generate clickbait.”
In the video Mace shared, Boebert addressed the camera next to the lake after posting the following text: “Hey, ‘journalists!’ This one’s for you.”
“You all ran a smear and called it news,” Boebert said. “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 noted that reporters have not verified the rules of the committee that prohibit the panel from considering any complaint of someone outside the House unless the member certifies in writing that it was done in good faith and instructs the committee to dismiss any complaint that is filed within 60 days of an election in which the subject is a candidate. Boebert is running for reelection in November in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
Moreover, Boebert claimed that the coverage has damaged her aides. “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,” Boebert said. “This reaches into the homes of people who have dedicated years of service to Coloradans alongside 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.”
Boebert referred to Wheeler as “the same desperate hack CNN caught in 2022 publishing a photo of another woman as me.” Last year, Wheeler published allegations that Boebert had worked as an escort, and these claims were criticized after the publication included pictures of a woman who was not Boebert.
She concluded the video confidently. “I am going to continue serving Colorado’s fourth district. I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but y’all need to do better,” Boebert said. “No, I’m not hiring.”
Boebert’s ex-husband Jayson Boebert and Navarro Ratzlaff have also refuted the allegations. Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose name was mentioned in the source claim attached to the filing, invited everyone to provide evidence.
