A watchdog group has filed a sworn ethics complaint alleging Rep. Lauren Boebert had sexual relationships with three members of her staff, raising questions about taxpayer-funded bonuses and a six-figure payment to one former aide.

David B. Wheeler, co-founder of the activist group American Muckrakers, filed the complaint with the House Ethics Committee alleging that the Colorado Republican carried on relationships with her district director, her chief of staff, and a third staffer over a period spanning much of her time in Congress. The complaint names Clarice Navarro, Jeffrey Small, and Raven Finegan, Boebert's current district chief of staff, as the three staffers involved, Breitbart News reported.

Boebert's office did not respond to a request for comment before publication. None of the three named staffers have made any public statement confirming or denying the allegations. The House Ethics Committee has not confirmed whether it has opened an investigation.

The complaint centers most heavily on Navarro, who served as Boebert's district director from January 2021 through January 2025. The American Muckrakers report claims that sources with "direct knowledge of the relationship between Navarro and Boebert" possess text messages, bank records, court documents, and recorded conversations supporting the allegations.

Sexual activity between the two allegedly took place during and after office hours, in Boebert's district office, in hotel rooms paid for by the congresswoman's campaign, and in a vehicle for which Navarro collected House mileage reimbursements, the complaint states.

Nearly half a million in pay and a $200,000 payout raise financial questions

The financial figures in the complaint are where the taxpayer-accountability questions begin to pile up. Navarro collected roughly $449,392 in total House pay across her four years on Boebert's staff. She also received $30,650 in year-end bonuses paid from taxpayer funds, bonuses that came in the fourth quarter of every single year she worked for the congresswoman. The complaint alleges those bonuses were "for the relationship, not for official work."

After Navarro left her position in January 2025, the complaint alleges she threatened to file her own ethics complaint against Boebert. In or about March 2025, a payment of approximately $200,000 was allegedly made to Navarro "to make it go away." The source of those funds remains unknown, even to the complaint's filers.

Jeffrey Small, who served as Boebert's chief of staff from 2021 to 2025, collected $767,892 in taxpayer-funded salary before departing in January 2025 with a $10,000 campaign payment on his way out. The complaint also names Finegan, Boebert's current district chief of staff, as a third staffer with whom Boebert allegedly had a sexual relationship.

Congress has faced a growing misconduct crisis in both parties, and the Boebert allegations add another chapter to an institution already struggling with credibility on matters of personal conduct and oversight.

Complaint alleges a physical altercation at a Colorado cocktail bar

The American Muckrakers report includes an account of an alleged physical confrontation between Boebert and Navarro at Hooch Aspen, a cocktail bar owned by Quinn Gallagher. The report describes Gallagher as a "one-time lover of Boebert" and a participant in the 2023 incident at a Beetlejuice theater performance that drew national attention.

The complaint claims Navarro became upset when Boebert flirted with Gallagher, and a fight broke out. Sources described it as a "knock-down, drag-out and physical argument." The report states that a video of the altercation inside the bar may exist but has not yet been located. American Muckrakers said it would turn the footage over to investigators if obtained.

One of the more explosive claims in the complaint involves former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. A source cited in the report alleged that Boebert and Navarro had a threesome with Gaetz. No corroborating evidence for that specific claim appears in the complaint beyond the single source's assertion.

Gaetz responded on X with a post that leaned into the allegation rather than flatly denying it:

"I am requesting that anyone with video of me in this alleged 'threesome' release said evidence IMMEDIATELY! Unedited, please."

Boebert's ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, was also drawn into the story. In a screenshot of apparent messages shared in the American Muckrakers report, he was asked whether he was aware of the alleged affair. His response dismissed the claims outright:

"It is all a fairy tale made up propaganda."

When pressed, he added only: "bad sources." The authenticity of the messages has not been independently verified.

Watchdog credibility and unanswered questions loom over the complaint

American Muckrakers is a political opposition research group, not a government agency. Wheeler, its co-founder, filed the complaint, but the organization's partisan track record means the allegations carry a different weight than findings from, say, a federal inspector general or a law enforcement investigation. The group claims to have documentary evidence, texts, bank records, court filings, and recordings, but none of that material has been made public or independently verified.

The Ethics Committee's silence so far is notable but not unusual. The panel has a long history of moving slowly or not at all on complaints, regardless of party. The committee stayed silent on domestic violence allegations against Rep. Max Miller, and watchdog groups have pushed the panel to act on financial questions involving Rep. Ilhan Omar after the committee voted to drop its own probe.

Several critical questions remain open. Has the Ethics Committee acknowledged receiving the complaint? Where did the alleged $200,000 payment to Navarro originate? Are the year-end bonuses documented in publicly available House disbursement records? And does the alleged video from Hooch Aspen actually exist?

Boebert filed for divorce from Jayson Boebert on April 25, 2023, stating the marriage was "irretrievably broken." The timeline of the alleged relationships overlaps with the final years of her marriage and the entirety of her congressional tenure to date.

The allegations land at a moment when similar accusations involving Sen. Ruben Gallego and congressional staffers have also surfaced, adding to a broader pattern of lawmakers facing questions about personal conduct with the people on their payrolls. Members of both parties have faced such scrutiny, and some have refused to step aside even as pressure mounted from within their own ranks.

If taxpayer dollars were used to reward personal relationships rather than official work, that is not a private matter, it is a misuse of public funds. The allegations against Boebert remain unproven, and she deserves the chance to answer them. But the Ethics Committee owes taxpayers more than silence.