US Representative Lauren Boebert has hit back at journalists reporting allegations contained in an ethics complaint that claims she had sexual relationships with three members of her staff.
Boebert has strongly denied the allegations, describing them as unsubstantiated attacks. She has also accused David Wheeler, a political operative who leads American Muckrakers, of being behind the claims.
The complaint alleges that Boebert had sexual relationships with former district director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, former chief of staff Jeffrey Small and current chief of staff Raven Finegan. All three have denied the allegations.
Boebert previously obtained a temporary civil protection order against Wheeler in 2022.
Lauren Boebert Slams Media Over Ethics Complaint
In a video posted on X, Boebert accused journalists of turning what she described as a false filing into a news story.
“Hey journalists,” Boebert said. “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.”
“It’s a scam and you fell for 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,” she added.
Boebert also argued that the complaint could not be accepted by the House Ethics Committee because of procedural rules.
Boebert Challenges Ethics Complaint
Boebert said House rules prohibit ethics complaints from being submitted within 60 days of an election. She also claimed the filing lacked the required written certification from a House member.
“Ethics isn’t even allowed to accept this garbage,” she said. “Yet all of you were more than willing to.”
She further claimed that the staff members named in the complaint were being targeted after news organisations published reports identifying them.
Navarro-Ratzlaff described the allegations as “entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous.”
Boebert ended her video by saying, “I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but y’all need to do better.”
“I hope you see how desperate these fools are to get me out of office,” she said, before adding: “No, I’m not hiring.”