Boebert Denies Ethics Complaint Over Alleged Staff Relationships
Rep. Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado's 4th District, says allegations that she had sex with three staff members and paid one to stay quiet are untrue and part of a politically motivated campaign against her. The Guardian
The allegations are in a House ethics complaint filed Sept. 17 by David Wheeler, founder of the American Muckrakers political action committee. Think of such a complaint as a formal report to the House's human resources department, the Ethics Committee. The filing alleges at least seven violations of House ethics rules.
At the center is an alleged four-year romantic and sexual relationship with senior staffer Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff. The filing alleges Boebert paid Ratzlaff $200,000 after Ratzlaff ended the relationship and threatened to file her own ethics complaint. It further alleges sexual relationships with district chief of staff Raven Finegan and former chief of staff Jeffrey Small, who served from 2021 to 2025.
The filing also lists congressional payroll figures. It lists more than $450,000 paid to Finegan through June 2026, almost $780,000 to Small, and more than $461,000 to Navarro Ratzlaff.
Those claims, if taken up, would be judged under the House Code of Official Conduct. The Code bars House members from sexual relationships with employees they supervise unless married, and says consent is not a defense.
Navarro Ratzlaff denied the claims about her as "entirely false, defamatory and beyond ridiculous with absolutely no truth to them." Boebert's congressional office said in a formal statement that she rejects the allegations as "utterly false." In a social media video, Boebert called Wheeler a "sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack" and accused journalists who reported the filing of "falling for a scam."
Her office also answered on procedure. A press release on her official House website titled "THERE IS ZERO TRUTH TO THESE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE ..." says the Sept. 17 filing "does not meet the Committee's rules and follows the same pattern of recycled sensational claims." House press release The office cites House Committee on Ethics Rule 15 on three points. A complaint may not be filed within 60 days of an election in which the member is a candidate. The committee must return a complaint filed in that window. Boebert's office says the Sept. 17 filing falls inside the 60-day period before an election in which she is a candidate. A filing from a non-member counts as a complaint only if a House member certifies in writing that it was made in good faith and warrants review. No House member has provided that certification for the Wheeler filing, according to the office.
The broader context here is the difference between filing a complaint and starting a case. An outside filing does not automatically lead to review. It must first pass tests on timing and sponsorship. Boebert is fighting on both fronts, denying the facts while arguing the filing fails those tests. The narrow question now is whether the Ethics Committee returns the submission under Rule 15 or finds another way to consider the claims.
