A political operative’s explosive claims about Rep. Lauren Boebert’s private life ran headfirst into a procedural wall this week, undercutting the very ethics process he invoked to spread them.
David Wheeler, who leads a group calling itself American Muckrakers, submitted a filing alleging the Colorado Republican carried on relationships with three members of her own staff.
Boebert, 38, responded within days, dismantling the claim on procedural grounds before addressing its substance.
House Ethics Committee rules bar the panel from accepting outside complaints filed within 60 days of an election cycle.
Boebert seized on that timing requirement as proof the filing was never viable to begin with.
A second rule compounds the problem: any complaint not submitted directly by a member of Congress must be certified in writing by a sitting lawmaker. According to Boebert, no such certification exists.
“That’s right, ethics isn’t even allowed to accept this garbage,” she said.
The three staffers Wheeler named — former district director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, former chief of staff Jeffrey Small, and current chief of staff Raven Finegan — have all issued denials.
Congressional rules put in place after the #MeToo movement forbid lawmakers from pursuing relationships with staffers under their supervision, a framework Wheeler’s filing invoked directly.
Much of the complaint’s substance targeted Navarro Ratzlaff specifically, with Wheeler pointing to what he described as anonymous sources and House disclosure filings as backing for the claims.
One additional allegation in the filing referenced former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a longtime Boebert ally, claiming a three-way encounter involving Gaetz and the former district director.
Gaetz responded by ridiculing the assertion publicly.
Boebert used a video posted to X to deliver her rebuttal directly to the reporters who covered the filing.
“Hey journalists,” she 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.”
She added: “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.”
This marks far from the first clash between Boebert and Wheeler.
A civil protection order was granted to Boebert against him back in 2022, a legal safeguard that has remained relevant to their ongoing dispute.
That same year, Wheeler’s organization circulated claims that Boebert had once worked as an escort, publishing images its report suggested showed the congresswoman.
The photos were later identified as depicting an entirely different woman. CNN examined the claims and found them without support.
Wheeler later acknowledged that his research into Boebert had been “sloppy” and contained “inaccuracies,” an admission that came roughly a year after the escort claims circulated.
The fallout from that earlier dispute produced litigation of its own: Wheeler filed a defamation suit against Boebert after she threatened legal action against him.
Multiple claims within that suit were recommended for denial, and Wheeler’s group eventually withdrew the case entirely.
Boebert directed part of her latest response toward the toll the allegations have taken on her staff, expressing frustration that their names and photographs became public fixtures of the story.
“I know that you’re more than willing to attack me and shame my household, but this is different and you crossed a line,” she said. “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.”
The congresswoman’s willingness to confront sex-related controversies head-on is not new. In April, after separate scandals engulfed Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and then-Rep.
Tony Gonzales of Arizona, Boebert offered reporters a blunt assessment: “Go to church. Find Jesus. Why is everybody so horny here?”
Boebert’s own record includes a widely publicized incident from 2023, when she was caught on camera during a “Beetlejuice” performance at a Denver theater engaged in physical contact with then-boyfriend Quinn Gallagher, a registered Democrat.
Theater staff removed the pair after they violated venue policies on vaping and photography.
Boebert later apologized for the episode.
No indication has emerged that the House Ethics Committee intends to take up Wheeler’s filing, a outcome consistent with the procedural obstacles Boebert identified in her response.
