A sworn ethics complaint filed with the House Committee on Ethics accuses Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert of arranging an approximately $200,000 hush money payment to her former district director in March 2025, after the aide indicated she planned to file her own ethics complaint. Boebert's office has called the claims utterly false, and the former staffer named in the filing says the allegations against her contain no truth whatsoever.
The complaint was filed September 17 by David Wheeler, who leads the political action committee American Muckrakers, according to the New York Post. Wheeler alleges Boebert had relationships with three staffers, including former district director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff and two others identified in the complaint as Jeffrey Small, Boebert's former chief of staff, and Raven Finegan, her current chief of staff. Per the complaint, Wheeler claims the relationship with Navarro Ratzlaff began in 2021 and lasted through Boebert's tenure in office; both Navarro Ratzlaff and Small left Boebert's office in 2025, while Finegan has remained on staff into 2026.
Boebert responded directly to the underlying claim, telling reporters she is straight and has never had an inappropriate relationship or been sexually involved with any staff member, per sources cited by the Post. A spokesperson for Boebert went further, saying the allegations have no truth to them and calling the filing a politically motivated stunt, the Post reported.
Former Aide Calls Allegations Defamatory
Navarro Ratzlaff, who directed Boebert's district office from 2021 to 2025, delivered her own forceful denial. In a text message to the Colorado Times Recorder, she said the allegations regarding her are “entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous” and contain no truth whatsoever.
The complaint leans on financial paperwork to bolster its claims. It cites House Statements of Disbursements showing Navarro Ratzlaff received roughly $449,000 in total House compensation over four years, including about $30,650 in year-end bonuses, according to American Muckrakers. The filing also points to a $5,000 campaign payment reported to the Federal Election Commission as “fundraising consulting,” with allegations asserting the payment involved no actual fundraising work.
Wheeler has said his sources possess text messages, court documents, recorded conversations, and bank records supporting the accusations. He also alleged, per the complaint, that Boebert and Navarro Ratzlaff had a physical argument at a bar in Aspen, and he claimed video existed of that alleged fight — though he admitted he does not actually have the video himself.
Gaetz Named in Complaint, Demands Evidence
The complaint additionally alleges that Boebert and Navarro Ratzlaff had an encounter involving former Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gaetz responded publicly, demanding the immediate release of any unedited video evidence, as the Colorado Times Recorder reported.
Boebert's ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, who was married to the congresswoman for about 20 years before their 2023 split, also weighed in, calling the accusations made-up propaganda. The couple has four children together.
A Rule Rooted in the #MeToo Era
The complaint invokes House Rule XXIII, clause 18(a), which bars members of Congress from engaging in sexual relationships with supervised employees. According to The Daily Wire, the rule was enacted in February 2018 in response to the #MeToo movement and previously served as the basis for a 2019 ethics probe into former Rep. Katie Hill. House lawmakers pushed in 2025 to extend the staff-sex ban to cover other staffers as well, per the Post's reporting.
Under House Ethics rules and procedures, ethics proceedings are generally conducted privately and may involve preliminary reviews, according to CBS News. An ethics complaint filing is not the same as an official finding of wrongdoing.
A Long-Running Feud With a History of Errors
This is not the first clash between Boebert and Wheeler. American Muckrakers previously targeted former Rep. Madison Cawthorn in 2022, as Forbes reported. That same year, Wheeler published accusations that Boebert had worked as an escort, a report that used pictures of a woman who was not Boebert; Wheeler later admitted errors in the piece. Boebert also had a restraining order against Wheeler in 2022.
Wheeler subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against Boebert. The parties later reached a settlement, according to COLab.
The new complaint arrives amid a string of other sex-related accusations swirling around Boebert this year, including claims of a tryst with Rep. Thomas Massie, which she has said in 2026 are out of control. Separately, Boebert and an associate, Quinn Gallagher, were removed from a venue for vaping and taking photos, and Boebert was filmed groping Gallagher at a Beetlejuice performance in Denver in 2023, for which she later apologized.
Political Stakes in a Newly Competitive District
Boebert, 39, moved her congressional candidacy from Colorado's 3rd District to the more heavily Republican 4th District in late 2023 after barely surviving her 2022 reelection race by fewer than 600 votes. She went on to win the CO-04 general election in November 2024 with 53.6% of the vote, according to CBS News.
The ethics complaint lands as national Democrats sharpen their focus on her seat. In August, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee expanded its nationwide target list to 58 competitive House districts, explicitly naming Boebert's 4th District as a pickup opportunity ahead of the November midterms, as Hoodline previously reported on shifting midterm polling. That expanded targeting adds to the political pressure facing Boebert this year.
