Musical lover Lauren Boebert, who is somehow a member of Congress, was hit with an ethics complaint last week that alleges she went full “Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!” with three House of Representatives staffers under her direct supervision. The complaint, which American Muckrakers’ David Wheeler filed under penalty of perjury, names three current and former senior aides — Clarice Navarro, who was Boebert’s district director from January 2021 to January 2025, District Chief of Staff Raven Finegan, and former Chief of Staff Jeffrey Small.
The alleged relationships are in violation of House rules that forbid a “sexual relationship with any employee of the House who works under the supervision of the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner.” It’s actually a relatively new rule the House implemented in 2018, specifically in response to longstanding allegations of sexual misconduct by late Democratic Rep. John Conyers. It’s not speaking ill of the dead to say that Conyers was a less honorable version of Dabney Coleman’s character in 9 to 5, a gross letch who repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances to female staffers and reportedly retaliated against those who resisted.
A similar ethics probe forced out Democratic Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned in 2019 barely a year into her first and only term. Her “crime” was a consensual relationship with a female staffer, which came to light as a result of her ex-husband sharing nude photos of Hill with right-wing garbage publications without her consent. She didn’t go through the whole ethics committee process, because the revenge porn was only going to get worse. So, she resigned, and Democrats lost a rising star and a seat in a swing district that Republican Mike Garcia held until Democratic Rep. George Whitesides narrowly defeated him in 2024.
Lauren Boebert was never a rising star, even by MAGA standards. In point of fact, she was a nuisance. She teamed up with former Rep. Matt Gaetz to make temp Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s life a living hell. However, she ultimately wasn’t one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy as speaker because she never really finishes anything unless it’s during the Beetlejuice musical.
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Like Hill, Boebert is accused of a consensual relationship with staff, not the sexual predation actively committed by Conyers, as well as disgraced former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales. Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, founding member of the now-defunct Sinema Party, has admitted to an affair with her married bodyguard, but the Senate doesn’t currently have a rule forbidding relationships with staff members who are outside their direct chain of command. So, Sinema was free to cosplay Whitney Houston’s finest cinematic moment.
Unlike Hill, there are no photos of Boebert’s Cinemax activities, and she’s denied the accusations. Everyone denies the accusations. We need more politicians willing to defiantly announce, “Damn right, I ordered the Code Sex!”
“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert rejects these allegations as utterly false and there is no truth to them whatsoever,” Boebert’s spokesperson said. “This is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her, and generate clickbait.”
“They come from an activist who has long recycled sensational claims, including numerous baseless accusations previously fact-checked as false,” the spokesperson added.
It’s true that Wheeler has made several salacious accusations about Boebert in the past, including that she once worked as a paid escort, which is more reputable work than what she’s done since entering Congress. Remember when she live-tweeted Nancy Pelosi’s whereabouts during the January 6 Capitol attack? How about when she stalked a random woman she assumed was Rep. Sarah McBride in the Capitol ladies room and told her, “You don’t belong here!” (That’s why she should always wear her glasses when doing bathroom bigotry.)
Boebert has threatened to sue Wheeler over his past claims, but then Wheeler filed a defamation lawsuit of his own over her public threats, sort of a legal version of “I’m rubber and you’re glue.” (That lawsuit was eventually settled but the terms remain undisclosed.)
The complaint, according to the Colorado Times Recorder, describes hook-ups between Lauren Boebert and Clarice Navarro in her office, in a campaign-paid vehicle, and in campaign-funded hotel rooms. The complaint further alleges that after Navarro quit, she allegedly told Boebert she was going to file her own ethics complaint — the worst sort of sex scandal Yelp review — so Boebert arranged to pay her $200,000 in March 2025, which I believe is what they’d describe on Law & Order as a “bribe.”
Navarro, however, rejects the allegations, which is a reasonable response when you’ve possibly accepted bribe money.
“These allegations regarding me are entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous,” Navarro told the Times Recorder. “There is absolutely no truth to any part of this claim.”
Navarro’s husband Jace Ratzlaff seems to disagree. He told Wheeler, “I assumed this would eventually surface. I’ll have no further comment on this topic.”
In an interview with Capitol Hill reporter Juliegrace Brufke, Boebert declared, “Well, I’m not a lesbian or bisexual, and I have never, ever been in any inappropriate relationship, nor have I ever been sexually involved with any staff.”
A prevailing rule in politics is that such firm denials are usually tantamount to a confession. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Boebert doesn’t consider herself a “lesbian or bisexual,” because she never took a formal exam and doesn’t own a single pair of Keen sandals.
Boebert released a video last weekend where she slammed the media for running with what she insists is an obvious smear against her frankly gross reputation. She pointed out that no member of Congress had signed off on the ethics complaint and that the House can’t even take it up because it was filed too close to the upcoming election. (Of course, that doesn’t tell us much, considering how useless the GOP-led House is.)
“I hate to spoil the fan fiction, but y’all need to do better,” she said.
Outgoing House Rep. Nancy Mace said this week that Boebert should “sue the shit out of [Wheeler] and anyone that spread this garbage.” Although I doubt even Boebert is stupid enough to take Nancy Mace’s advice, it’s worth pointing out that Katie Hill sued her actual tormentors, lost, and was stuck paying the Daily Mail’s legal fees, which bankrupted her. I can’t imagine Boebert wants to get anywhere near the discovery part of a lawsuit.
When Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales were accused of sexual misconduct, Boebert testified to reporters outside the Capitol: “Go to church, find Jesus. Like, why is everybody so horny here?” It’s possible that question wasn’t merely rhetorical.
Boebert currently represents (poorly) Colorado’s fourth district, which she moved to in 2024 because it’s heavily Republican. However, it’s not certain that it remains safe in an environment where Donald Trump’s approval rating is below freezing. If Boebert loses re-election, she might have more time to spend getting kicked out of musicals.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if Boebert doesn’t consider herself a “lesbian or bisexual,” because she never took a formal exam and doesn’t own a single pair of Keen sandals.
I remember perusing the “Personals” column once when I lived in LA, probably in the 80s, “Women Seeking Women” section and seeing this gem, “Woman looking for fun relationship with like-minded woman. No Birkenstocks!”
How does anybody, but especially her constituents, take her seriously? Clowns, all the way down.