A sworn House ethics complaint accuses Rep. Lauren Boebert of sexual relationships with three of her own staffers and a $200,000 payment to keep one of them quiet. Her answer, through her office: “utterly false,” with “no truth to them whatsoever.”
As of Saturday, September 19, the House Committee on Ethics has made no finding, and the full complaint and its exhibits have not been made public.
Story Snapshot
- The sworn complaint names three current or former aides and cites payroll, campaign-finance and bank records as support.
- It claims a district director received special pay and, later, a roughly $200,000 payoff after a threat to go public.
- Boebert and one of the named aides deny everything and call it a political hit.
- The House rule against member-staffer sexual relationships dates to 2018 and can trigger discipline.
What The Complaint Alleges
American Muckrakers, the activist group behind the filing, says it submitted the sworn complaint on Wednesday, September 17. The group claims Boebert had a years-long sexual relationship with her district director and maintained relationships with two other staffers. Summaries of the filing name Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, Raven Finegan and Jeffrey Small as the aides. The complaint frames the conduct as a violation of the House rule that bars members from sexual relationships with employees they supervise.
The filing says it relies on House payroll data, Federal Election Commission records, court documents, text messages, bank records and recorded conversations. One summary says the district director received taxpayer-funded bonuses of $30,650, a $5,000 campaign payment listed as consulting on July 8, 2022, and stayed on the payroll through January 2025. The same summary claims a later hush payment of about $200,000 after a threat to go public.
The Denials
Boebert’s office calls the allegations “utterly false” and says there is “no truth to them whatsoever,” describing the complaint as a political stunt built to generate headlines. Boebert says she has never been sexually involved with any member of her staff. Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, one of the named aides, calls the claims “entirely false, defamatory and beyond ridiculous.”
The House Committee on Ethics has not made any finding. The full, unredacted complaint and its exhibits are not public, and the messages and bank records the filing describes have not been published alongside any chain-of-custody detail. The record right now is a sworn complaint, media summaries, and firm denials.
The Rule, The Process, And What Comes Next
The 2018 House rule bars members from sexual relationships with employees they supervise, and a confirmed violation can bring discipline. Anyone can submit a complaint to the committee, which can review it, gather records and, if warranted, open a formal investigation. The panel has said it has handled numerous sexual-misconduct inquiries in recent years, but only a fraction end in public reports and sanctions.
If this complaint proceeds, the next steps would include obtaining payroll files, campaign-finance records and bank records, and interviewing the named staffers. Tracing any $200,000 payment would require documents showing who paid, who received it, when it moved and why. Without that, the payment claim stays an allegation in a sworn filing.
What To Watch For
Watch for the committee to acknowledge the complaint or announce next steps, and for any release of payroll records, FEC filings or bank documents tied to the alleged payment. Expect more noise; do not confuse volume with proof. Real evidence looks like signed records, verified transfers and timelines that hold up under review.
Sources:
redstate.com, americanmuckrakers.com, breitbart.com, yahoo.com, ethics.house.gov
