Lauren Boebert rejects ethics complaint alleging staffer affairs; accuser says 'sue me'

David B. Wheeler, head of the political action committee American Muckrakers, filed a sworn ethics complaint against Rep. Lauren Boebert alleging sexual relationships with three staffers, which Boebert has rejected as false. The September 17 complaint to the House Ethics Committee names former District Director Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, District Chief of Staff Raven Finegan, and former Chief of Staff Jeffrey Small, citing a 2018 rule banning member-staff romances. It also alleges a $200,000 payment to Ratzlaff in March 2025, which Wheeler claims was hush money. Wheeler, who holds no official committee position, challenged Boebert to sue him, saying he stands by his sources. Ratzlaff has called the claims defamatory, while Boebert's team dismissed the filing as a politically motivated smear.