Republican congresswoman rejects ethics complaint and says allegations part of ‘politically motivated’ hit campaign
Lauren Boebert, the firebrand Republican subject of a House ethics complaint that she had sex with three staff members, and paid one to keep quiet, has said the allegations are untrue – and part of a “politically motivated” campaign against her.
Boebert’s denials came through a formal statement from her office, which said “the congresswoman rejects the claims as utterly false”. She also published a verbose video rant on social media in which she accused the person who filed the document as a “sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack” – and journalists who reported the story as falling victim to a “scam”.
According to the complaint, filed on 17 September by David Wheeler, an independent journalist, activist, and founder of the American Muckrakers political action committee, Boebert, who represents Colorado’s fourth congressional district, committed at least seven violations of House ethics rules.
The Guardian has reviewed the complaint but not independently substantiated the allegations.
Wheeler said his group had direct knowledge of the relationships “through text messages, bank records, court documents, and recorded conversations”.
Among the most prominent allegations are that Boebert conducted a four-year “romantic and sexual relationship” with a senior female staffer, named as Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, then paid her $200,000 when Ratzlaff broke off the affair...
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