Rep. Lauren Boebert denied allegations that she had sexual relationships with three congressional staffers, and argued the complaint behind the claims is procedurally invalid and should never have made headlines.
The Colorado Republican posted a video message on X on September 20, 2026, tearing into the media and the man behind the filing: David Wheeler, a political operative who leads a group called American Muckrakers. Wheeler submitted what he called an ethics complaint to the House Ethics Committee claiming Boebert, 38, carried on relationships with three members of her own staff, former district director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, former chief of staff Jeffrey Small, and current chief of staff Raven Finegan. All three staffers have denied the allegations, the New York Post reported.
Wheeler's complaint also alleged that Boebert and Ratzlaff had a "threesome" with former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. Gaetz mocked the claims. Boebert had previously denied the allegations by stating she is straight.
But Boebert did not stop at a flat denial. She went after the complaint's procedural standing, arguing the House Ethics Committee cannot even accept it, because no sitting member of Congress certified it in writing, and because it was filed within 60 days of an election.
In her video response, Boebert directed her sharpest words at journalists who ran the story without, in her view, checking whether the complaint met basic procedural requirements. She said:
"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 write penalty of perjury in the headline."
She continued, laying out her procedural argument plainly:
"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."
House Ethics Committee rules require that complaints not submitted by a lawmaker must be certified by one. Boebert's claim, that the committee is barred from accepting complaints filed within 60 days of an election, has not been independently confirmed or denied by the committee itself, at least not in any public statement reported so far.
Whether or not Boebert's reading of the rules holds up, the procedural question matters. If the complaint fails on its face, it amounts to a press release dressed up as an official filing, designed to generate headlines rather than trigger an investigation. The underlying allegations in the complaint have drawn attention, but the Ethics Committee has not publicly confirmed it received or accepted the filing.
This is not the first time David Wheeler has targeted Boebert with sensational accusations. In 2022, Wheeler published claims that Boebert had previously worked as an escort. His report used images of a different woman, a basic factual error that undercut the entire effort. Wheeler later admitted the research was "sloppy" and riddled with "inaccuracies."
Boebert responded to the 2022 accusations by obtaining a temporary civil protection order against Wheeler. Wheeler then filed a defamation suit against Boebert. Several of those defamation claims were recommended for denial, and the group ultimately dismissed the case.
That sequence, publish explosive allegations, get caught making errors, admit sloppiness, file a lawsuit, then drop it, is worth keeping in mind when evaluating the new complaint. Wheeler claims anonymous sources, House financial disclosures, and other records back up his latest allegations. No independent source has confirmed that claim.
House rules enacted after the #MeToo movement do restrict lawmakers from having sexual relationships with their staffers. So the underlying conduct, if proven, would be a serious matter. But an allegation from a political operative with a documented history of inaccurate claims against the same target is not proof. The House Ethics Committee has acted on misconduct findings in other cases where the evidence warranted it, the question is whether Wheeler's complaint meets that bar.
Boebert reserved some of her sharpest language for the personal toll the allegations impose on the staffers named in the complaint. All three, Ratzlaff, Small, and Finegan, denied the claims. Ratzlaff was described as having "vehemently" rejected the accusations.
Boebert addressed journalists directly on that point:
"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."
That argument carries weight regardless of party. Congressional staffers are not public figures. They do not run for office. Having their names dragged into salacious headlines based on an unverified complaint from an operative with a record of admitted errors puts real people in the crossfire of a political campaign against their boss.
Boebert has faced her share of unflattering headlines. Roughly three years before the current episode, she and then-companion Quinn Gallagher, a registered Democrat, were ejected from a Denver theater during a performance of "Beetlejuice" after being caught on camera vaping and taking photos. Boebert later apologized for that incident. Broader legislative efforts to ban lawmaker-staff relationships have gained traction on Capitol Hill in recent years, reflecting a bipartisan recognition that the power imbalance in those situations demands clear rules.
When asked about sex scandals involving other members of Congress earlier this year, Boebert offered a blunt response to reporters: "Go to church. Find Jesus. Why is everybody so horny here?" That comment came in the context of accusations against former Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and former Rep. Tony Gonzales of Arizona, who faced pressure to resign over his own scandal.
The facts available right now paint a clear picture of the dynamic at play. Wheeler has spent years lobbing accusations at Boebert. His 2022 escort claims fell apart under basic scrutiny, wrong photos, admitted sloppiness, a defamation case he filed and then dropped. Now he has filed a new complaint making even more explosive allegations, again without any independent corroboration reported publicly. The Boebert family has faced sustained public scrutiny on multiple fronts, and Wheeler appears determined to keep the pressure on.
Boebert, for her part, has not retreated. She challenged the complaint's legal standing, attacked the media for running the story, and pointed to Wheeler's record. Her staffers denied the claims. Gaetz mocked them. And the House Ethics Committee has said nothing publicly about whether it will act.
Several open questions remain. Did Wheeler's complaint actually land within the 60-day election window Boebert cited? Will any sitting member of Congress certify it? Does the Ethics Committee plan to acknowledge the filing at all? Until those questions get answers, the complaint is a political operative's accusation, nothing more.
In Washington, anyone can file a complaint. The Boebert name has drawn no shortage of controversy, but a filing from a man who already admitted his last round of accusations was sloppy and inaccurate deserves skepticism, not breathless coverage.
When the press treats an unverified complaint as front-page news, the accuser gets exactly what he wanted, and accountability is the first casualty.
