Rep. Lauren Boebert denied allegations that she had sexual relationships with three congressional staffers, calling the ethics complaint a fraudulent political attack that House rules bar the Ethics Committee from even accepting.
The Colorado Republican posted a video message on X on September 20, 2026, responding directly to a complaint filed by David Wheeler, a political operative who runs a group called American Muckrakers. Wheeler's filing alleged Boebert had relationships with former district director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, former chief of staff Jeffrey Small, and current chief of staff Raven Finegan. It also claimed Boebert and Ratzlaff had a "threesome" with former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
All three named staffers denied the allegations. Gaetz mocked the claims. And Boebert went on offense, not just denying the accusations but arguing the complaint was procedurally dead on arrival.
In her video, Boebert laid out two procedural arguments. First, she said the complaint was filed within 60 days of an election, which she said violates Ethics Committee rules. Second, she said complaints not submitted by a sitting member of Congress must be certified in writing by one, and no lawmaker had done so.
As the New York Post reported, Boebert directed her sharpest language at the press outlets that ran with the story:
"Hey journalists, You all ran a smear and called it news. Some sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack stamps under oath on a fake filing so you'll draft penalty of perjury in the headline."
She continued:
"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."
Boebert added that the Ethics Committee is "not even allowed to accept this garbage." The House Ethics Committee has not publicly confirmed whether it received or rejected the filing, and the specific rule text Boebert cited has not been independently verified in available reporting.
Wheeler is not a new figure in Boebert's orbit, and his credibility carries baggage. In 2022, his group published accusations claiming Boebert had previously worked as an escort. That report used photographs of a different woman entirely. CNN fact-checked the claims, and Boebert pointed to that fact check in her response.
Wheeler himself admitted his research was "sloppy" and riddled with "inaccuracies." Boebert obtained a temporary civil protection order against him that same year.
After Boebert threatened legal action, Wheeler filed a defamation lawsuit against her, a preemptive move. Several of his defamation claims were recommended for denial, and the group ultimately dismissed the case. The pattern is consistent: Wheeler makes explosive accusations, media outlets amplify them, the underlying evidence falls apart, and the legal follow-through collapses.
Political figures across the spectrum have faced personal controversies weaponized for electoral advantage. In a similar case involving a Maine Senate candidate, a former DNC chair dismissed such attacks as "salacious gossip", a label that fits Wheeler's approach regardless of party.
The allegations carry a particular charge because House rules enacted after the #MeToo movement restrict lawmakers from having sexual relationships with their staffers. If substantiated, the conduct Wheeler describes would violate those rules. But "if substantiated" is doing heavy lifting in a complaint built on anonymous sources and filed by a man with a documented record of publishing inaccurate claims about this specific congresswoman.
Wheeler claimed anonymous sources, House disclosures, and other records backed up his allegations. He did not provide those materials publicly, and the complaint itself has not been quoted or released in full.
Boebert, a 38-year-old divorced mother of four, has faced intense personal scrutiny throughout her time in Congress. Her family has drawn its own share of headlines, including when her son Tyler Boebert was arrested in Colorado on child sexual exploitation charges, a case that later ended when he accepted a plea deal with a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail.
In 2023, Boebert was caught on camera at a Denver theater during a performance of "Beetlejuice" in conduct described as groping her then-boyfriend Quinn Gallagher, a registered Democrat. Both were ejected for taking photos and vaping. Boebert later apologized.
Earlier this year, or possibly last, Boebert addressed reporters about sex scandal accusations swirling around other members of Congress, including former Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Rep. Tony Gonzales of Arizona, who reportedly sent lewd texts to a staffer and had an affair with an ex-aide.
Boebert's advice to the press at the time was blunt:
"Go to church. Find Jesus. Why is everybody so horny here?"
That line now reads as both a defense and a dare. Boebert was willing to call out the behavior of colleagues, and she is now equally willing to fight back when similar accusations land on her, especially when the accuser has a record of publishing claims that fell apart under scrutiny.
In her video, she also turned the focus to the collateral damage of the coverage, urging journalists to consider the people caught in the crossfire:
"I know that you're more than willing to attack me and shame my household, but this is different and you crossed a line. 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 pattern of politically timed legal and ethical complaints against sitting members of Congress is not unique to Boebert. Rep. Cory Mills of Florida recently called a DOJ probe a political operation as his own primary approached, a reminder that legal filings timed to election cycles deserve extra scrutiny, not less.
Several basic questions remain. Has any member of Congress certified Wheeler's complaint in writing? Has the Ethics Committee formally acknowledged or rejected the filing? What specific evidence, beyond anonymous sources, does Wheeler claim to possess? None of these answers are publicly available.
Until those questions are resolved, the complaint amounts to a document filed by a political operative with a history of inaccurate, retracted, and legally failed accusations against the same target. Boebert's procedural objections may or may not hold up. But Wheeler's credibility deficit is a matter of public record, not opinion.
When the same person keeps filing and keeps getting it wrong, the burden of proof doesn't shrink, it grows. The press would do well to remember that before the next headline drafts itself.
