American Muckrakers just filed a bombshell ethics complaint against one of Congress’s most recognizable names.
The allegations inside are about as serious — and as salacious — as they get on Capitol Hill.
And Rep. Lauren Boebert had four very direct words for the whole thing.
What the Complaint Actually Says
David B Wheeler, listed as a journalist with American Muckrakers — a group that describes its mandate as holding “terrible politicians and people accountable” — filed a complaint with the House Committee on Ethics recently, signing it under penalty of perjury.
Wheeler alleged that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) engaged in sexual relationships with three current and former senior aides while those staffers worked under her direct supervision. House rules adopted in 2018 bar members from engaging in sexual relationships with employees they supervise, and consent is not a valid defense under those rules.
The three people named in the complaint are Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, who ran Boebert’s district office from January 2021 into early 2025 and previously served in the Colorado legislature and at the USDA under the Trump administration; Raven Finegan, Boebert’s current district chief of staff; and Jeffrey Small, Boebert’s former chief of staff.
According to the complaint, Wheeler alleged the encounters occurred during official office hours, after hours, and on weekends — in Colorado and outside Colorado, in Boebert’s district office, in a vehicle, and in hotel rooms paid for by her campaign committee.
Wheeler also claimed that about $200,000 changed hands in March 2025 after Navarro Ratzlaff departed and allegedly threatened to file an ethics complaint. The complaint says its evidence includes House payroll records, Federal Election Commission filings, court records, and information from sources with direct knowledge. Wheeler says he also has text messages, bank records, and recorded conversations. That said, much of the evidence cited for the alleged relationships rests on unnamed sources whose underlying notes were not made public.
Sources Say News also reported that Wheeler’s group circulated a separate claim from a source alleging that Boebert and Navarro Ratzlaff had a threesome with former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that was captured on video — though the group “never claimed a video existed, and none has surfaced.”
Gaetz took to X with his own response to that particular detail, writing: “I am requesting that anyone with video of me in this alleged ‘threesome’ release said evidence IMMEDIATELY! Unedited, please.”
Boebert Fires Back — Flatly and Without Apology
Boebert did not equivocate. She told Sources Say News: “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.”
On the Gaetz-related claims specifically, Boebert added: “Creative, I’ll give him that!”
Navarro Ratzlaff told the Colorado Times Recorder the allegations about her are “entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous.”
A spokesperson for Boebert called the allegations “utterly false” and said there was “no truth to them whatsoever,” adding: “This is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear her, and generate clickbait.”
Boebert’s ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, labeled the allegations “propaganda” in a message that Wheeler himself released.
The spokesperson also noted that Wheeler’s group had “long recycled sensational claims, including numerous baseless accusations previously fact-checked as false.”
What American Muckrakers Actually Is — and Why That Matters
Wheeler has a documented history of targeting Boebert specifically. American Muckrakers describes itself as a group dedicated to holding politicians accountable, but critics have long pointed out that its targets tend to skew in one direction.
The allegations here are unverified. They have not been independently substantiated. The House Ethics Committee has not announced any investigation, and no charges have been proven in any proceeding. Under any fair reading of defamation standards, these remain accusations — serious ones that Boebert, Navarro Ratzlaff, and the office of Jayson Boebert have all directly disputed.
But that is not how these things work in the political press cycle, and everyone involved knows it. A sworn filing gets published. The names get attached. The story spreads. The denial, however forceful, plays catch-up.
And Wheeler signed this under penalty of perjury — the same legal standard as a sworn affidavit. So if the underlying claims turn out to be fabricated or materially false, he carries personal legal exposure for that. That is not a small thing, and it is worth noting that someone willing to sign a document like that either has genuine evidence or is willing to take an extraordinary legal risk on something he knows to be unverifiable.
The complaint cites documentary records — payroll filings, FEC records, court documents. What it does not do is put named witnesses on the record. Anonymous sources, however confident-sounding, are not a substitute for people willing to attach their names to sworn statements. The distinction matters.
The Bigger Picture Here
Boebert has faced a steady stream of personal controversies over the years, and her political opponents have never been shy about amplifying them. The timing of this complaint — the way it dropped, the speed with which it circulated — follows a familiar pattern of opposition research dressed up as accountability journalism.
American Muckrakers is not a neutral actor. It is a political action committee operating under a journalistic banner. That does not automatically mean its allegations are false. But readers have every right to factor in the source when evaluating claims that rest almost entirely on unnamed people and documents that have not been independently reviewed.
Boebert represents Colorado’s 4th Congressional District and has built her brand on blunt, unapologetic conservatism. She has no shortage of political enemies. And political enemies with a platform and a PAC have strong incentives to file ethics complaints — especially sworn ones that generate headlines even when no finding has been made.
The House Ethics Committee will do what it does, at whatever pace it chooses. Until there is an actual finding, these remain allegations. Boebert said they are false. The named staffer said they are false. The ex-husband said they are false. And the organization behind them has a track record of going after Boebert specifically.
None of that means the truth is settled. But it is the full picture — and readers deserve the full picture, not just the version that moves the most clicks.
Sources: Sources Say News; Colorado Times Recorder; Mediaite, “‘I’m Not a Lesbian!’ Lauren Boebert Denies Ethics Complaint Alleging She Had Sex With Staffers”; Daily Wire, “‘I’m Not A Lesbian’: Lauren Boebert Denies Sleeping With Three Staffers”; Headline USA, “Rep. Lauren Boebert Accused of Having Sex w/ Female Staffers”