Rep. Lauren Boebert is forcefully rejecting a sworn ethics complaint that accuses her of improper relationships with three congressional staffers and orchestrating a $200,000 payoff to silence a potential accuser, denouncing the allegations as a politically motivated hoax weaponized by a compliant media.
According to The Gateway Pundit, the complaint was filed on September 17 by David B. Wheeler of American Muckrakers, a left-wing activist outfit long focused on targeting MAGA-aligned Republicans with sensational accusations that frequently collapse under scrutiny. In a video posted to X on Sunday, Boebert dispensed with any pretense of deference toward the coverage, calling it a manufactured scandal elevated by newsrooms eager to damage a conservative lawmaker in the middle of an election cycle.
Hey journalists, now that Im finished with my more important task of the day, I have a few words for you, Boebert said, opening her remarks with a direct challenge to the press. You all ran a smear and called it news, she added. Some sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack stamps under oath on a fake filing so youll write penalty of perjury in the headline. Yeah, thats the whole freaking trick. Its a scam and you fell for it.
The complaint alleges that Boebert engaged in sexual relationships with three staffers: former District Director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, current District Chief of Staff Raven Finegan, and former Chief of Staff Jeffrey Small. It further claims that an approximately $200,000 payment was made to Navarro Ratzlaff in March 2025 after she allegedly threatened to file her own ethics complaint, though even Wheelers own published version concedes he does not know the source of the money, and the section describing how he supposedly verified the payment is redacted.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Boebert has dismissed the accusations as utterly false, while Navarro Ratzlaff labeled them entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous, underscoring the lack of substantiation behind the charges. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose name Wheeler also dragged into the filing, has demanded that any alleged video evidence be released immediately and unedited, a challenge that so far has gone unanswered by the accuser.
On Sunday, Boebert escalated her response, shifting her fire from the activist behind the complaint to the media outlets that amplified it without, she says, performing even basic due diligence. She argued that the press eagerly embraced a narrative that fit its ideological preferences, rather than pausing to examine the Houses own rules governing ethics complaints and the timing of such filings.
House Ethics Committee Rule 15 is explicit: information from a non-member may be treated as a formal complaint only if a Member of the House certifies in writing that it is submitted in good faith and merits review. Wheeler is not a Member of Congress, and Boebert stated that no member signed the required certification, meaning the filing does not qualify as a valid complaint under the committees own standards.
The same rule is even more explicit on timing, stating, The Committee shall not accept, and shall return to the complainant, any complaint submitted within the 60 days before a Federal, State, or local election in which the subject of the complaint is a candidate. Colorados general election is November 3, 2026, which places the 60-day blackout beginning on September 4, and Wheelers September 17 filing falls squarely inside that prohibited window.
Boebert argued that these basic procedural facts were ignored as outlets rushed to publish names and photos of her staff, exposing them to harassment over claims that may never even be formally considered by the Ethics Committee. She framed this as not merely an attack on her, but on ordinary staffers who have devoted years to serving Colorado and now find themselves collateral damage in a partisan media campaign.
Boebert was blunt in her assessment of both the complaint and the journalists who promoted it. 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 its evident that you didnt even bother to look up House Ethics Committee rules, which clearly state the committee cant even accept a complaint filed inside 60 days of an election.
Thats right. Ethics isnt even allowed to accept this garbage. Yet all of you were more than willing to.
Nobody in your newsroom checked the rulebook before they put my teams 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 hes created about me. You ran this story anyway.
For Boebert, the episode is emblematic of a broader pattern in which progressive activists and their media allies attempt to criminalize or scandalize conservative officeholders through lawfare and reputational warfare rather than honest debate. She warned that the damage extends beyond her own household, reaching into the homes of people who have dedicated years of service to Coloradans alongside of me, and accused journalists of crossing a moral line by dragging staff into a politically charged spectacle.
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 youre 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 made clear she intends to stay focused on her work despite the controversy, casting the complaint as a last-ditch effort by opponents who cannot defeat her on policy or at the ballot box. So, while you sit back and think of how you can do your jobs better, I am going to continue serving Colorados 4th District. I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but yall need to do better.
And to the people who have had my back, thank you. I hope you see how desperate these fools are to get me out of office.
And I gotta say just one more thing before I sign off here: To the rest of yall, no, Im not hiring.
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