Filing alleges $200,000 payment to former senior staffer
David Wheeler, an independent journalist and founder of the American Muckrakers political action committee, filed the complaint September 17 with the House Ethics Committee. Wheeler said his group had direct knowledge of the relationships “through text messages, bank records, court documents, and recorded conversations.” The Guardian reported it reviewed the complaint but had not independently substantiated the allegations.
The most prominent allegations center on Clarice Navarro Ratzlaff, identified in the complaint as a senior female staffer with whom Boebert conducted a four-year “romantic and sexual relationship.” Wheeler alleges Boebert paid Ratzlaff $200,000 when Ratzlaff broke off the affair and threatened to file an ethics complaint of her own.
The complaint also alleges Boebert had sexual relationships around the same time with Raven Finegan, her district chief of staff and a congressional employee, and Jeffrey Small, her chief of staff from 2021 to 2025. Financial records attached to the complaint detail congressional spending that included more than $450,000 to Finegan through June 2026, almost $780,000 to Small, and more than $461,000 to Ratzlaff.
The House code of official conduct prohibits members from engaging in sexual relationships with employees under their supervision, or the committees on which they serve, unless the couple is married. The rules state that consent is not a defense.
Boebert’s denials came through a formal statement from her office, which said “the congresswoman rejects the claims as utterly false.” She also published a video on social media in which she accused Wheeler of being a “sloppy, desperate, obsessive hack” and called journalists who reported the story victims of a “scam.” Boebert characterized the allegations as part of a “politically motivated” campaign against her.
A spokesperson for Boebert questioned the legitimacy of the filing, noting that a House member needed to certify the complaint was filed in good faith and that so far no one had. “Swearing to it does not make it a complaint,” the spokesperson said. “This was a political smear packaged as an ethics filing and published before anyone checked whether it even qualifies under the [ethics] committee’s rules.”
Boebert told the news outlet Sources Say News: “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.”
Ratzlaff, a Republican former state representative who resigned in 2017 to take a minor role in Donald Trump’s first administration, divorced her husband, Jace, amid the fallout from her relationship with Boebert, the complaint alleges. It adds that Boebert fired Ratzlaff in September 2024 but allowed her to stay on the payroll until January 2025 as a “ghost employee” who performed no work.
Ratzlaff denied the allegations to the Colorado Reporter in a text message: “These allegations regarding me are entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous. There is absolutely no truth to any part of this claim.” According to American Muckrakers, Jace Ratzlaff told Wheeler: “I assumed this would eventually surface. I’ll have no further comment on this topic.”
The complaint includes photographs of Boebert and Finegan together and accounts of social trips Boebert made to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with family and friends. The Guardian noted the allegations came after Boebert has frequently promoted her own Christian values and has previously been publicly critical of same-sex relationships. In June, Boebert posted on X, without evidence, that Major League Baseball was unduly “forcing” players to promote a LGBTQ+ agenda.
The current filing follows several personal-conduct controversies that have drawn public attention to Boebert. In September 2023, she apologized and said she “fell short of my values” after closed-circuit video footage from a Denver theater showed Boebert and a male companion groping each other. Boebert, who was escorted from the building by security, initially denied that she had been vaping in violation of theater rules and later conceded she had been when further video footage emerged. Boebert said she “genuinely did not recall vaping that evening” and blamed her conduct on a “public and difficult divorce.”
In January 2024, Boebert denied attacking her ex-husband after police were called to a disturbance involving the pair at a restaurant in Silt, Colorado.
In June, Boebert ended an interview with a Fox News Digital reporter who raised allegations that she had a relationship with fellow Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. “Fuck you, first of all,” Boebert said in the exchange. “If you’re gonna bring me into this, like, this sexist stuff is out of control. There’s your clickbait that you were looking for. I don’t wanna talk about anybody’s exes and their crazy shit that they do.” She then walked away.
Boebert filed for divorce from her husband, Jayson Boebert, in May 2023, citing irreconcilable differences.
In August, Lauren and Jayson Boebert’s 21-year-old son, Tyler, appeared in court in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor over sexually explicit pictures he allegedly posted on social media in 2024.