Ethics Complaint Accuses Rep. Lauren Boebert of Affairs With Three Staffers, She Calls It a Political Stunt

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is facing a sworn ethics complaint accusing her of sexual relationships with three congressional staffers and a $200,000 payment to keep one of them quiet. She says it's garbage timed to hurt her re-election bid. One accused staffer says the same thing. The group that filed it says it stands by every word.

The complaint was filed Thursday, September 17, with the House Committee on Ethics by David Wheeler, head of the political action committee American Muckrakers, according to the Colorado Times Recorder, which first reported it. It names three current and former Boebert staffers: Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, her district director from January 2021 to January 2025; Raven Finegan, her current district chief of staff; and Jeffrey Small, her chief of staff from 2021 to 2025.

According to Breitbart's review of the underlying report, the complaint claims Navarro and Boebert had sexual encounters in the district office, in a vehicle for which Navarro collected House mileage reimbursement, and in hotel rooms billed to Boebert's campaign. It says Navarro received roughly $449,391.63 in House salary over four years plus $30,650 in year-end bonuses annually, paid from taxpayer funds, and alleges those bonuses were tied to the relationship rather than her official duties. Small reportedly collected $767,892 in taxpayer-funded salary before leaving in January 2025, plus a $10,000 campaign payment on his way out.

The most serious financial claim: Navarro allegedly received $200,000 around March 2025, after leaving Boebert's office, when she told Boebert she planned to file her own ethics complaint over the relationship. Wheeler's filing states plainly that "the source of the funds is presently unknown to Complainant," according to both Breitbart and the Daily Wire. The Daily Wire also reported that the section of the complaint describing how Wheeler confirmed the payment is redacted in the public version.

The complaint also contains a claim, sourced to a single unnamed person, that Boebert and Navarro had a threesome with former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and a separate account of a physical fight between Boebert and Navarro at a bar owned by Quinn Gallagher, Boebert's ex-boyfriend, according to Breitbart. Neither claim is corroborated by named witnesses, documents, or any other source in the filing.

Boebert's office rejected all of it. "Congresswoman Lauren Boebert rejects these allegations as utterly false, and there is no truth to them whatsoever," a spokesperson said in a statement given to TMZ and Complex. "This is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her, and generate clickbait. They come from an activist who has long recycled sensational claims, including numerous baseless accusations previously fact-checked as false."

Boebert also denied it directly in comments to the outlet Sources Say News, reported by the Daily Wire: "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." In a video posted to social media and covered by the Daily Beast, she went after the press directly: "You all ran a smear and called it news... I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but y'all needed to do better."

Navarro Ratzlaff denied the allegations concerning her in a statement to the Colorado Times Recorder: "These allegations regarding me are entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous. There is absolutely no truth to any part of this claim." Her ex-husband, Jace Ratzlaff, told Wheeler, "I assumed this would eventually surface, I'll have no further comment on this topic," according to the Advocate. Boebert's ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, called the claims "a fairy tale" in a message released by Wheeler.

Wheeler isn't backing off. He told TMZ he stands "100%" by his reporting and sourcing, said the "facts are on our side," and said he'll "continue to report on Boebert... without fear and at personal and financial sacrifice."

The Daily Beast noted Wheeler has previously made allegations against Boebert that didn't hold up, including a claim she once worked as an escort, tied to a photo of a different woman that he published online. Boebert has held a restraining order against Wheeler since 2022. American Muckrakers has also sued Boebert for defamation over her denials of earlier claims, according to the Advocate. That history cuts both ways: it's a reason to weigh this complaint skeptically, and it's also why Wheeler's defenders say he's been targeted for years by someone with something to hide. Neither claim is proven by anything in the record here.

The underlying rule is real. House members have been barred from sexual relationships with employees they directly supervise since a 2018 reform passed after a wave of Capitol Hill harassment scandals, a rule the Ethics Committee applied in its 2019 investigation of then-Rep. Katie Hill, according to the Daily Wire. Violating it would be a real problem if proven. Nothing in the complaint has been proven. It rests on unnamed sources, redacted confirmation methods, and an admitted unknown for the $200,000 payment's origin. Those gaps make an allegation like this hard to verify either way.

Boebert, who is running for re-election in November, pointed out that House rules bar the Ethics Committee from acting on a referral within 60 days of an election, according to the Daily Beast. That timeline means no committee action is likely before voters decide her race. Whether the committee opens a formal review after the election, and whether Wheeler's sourcing holds up to scrutiny once the underlying texts, bank records, and recordings he claims to have are examined, remains unanswered.