Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert is no stranger to controversy, being that she is known for being an ardent support of former President Donald Trump and a former follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The far-right Republican is coming under scrutiny once again, because she used campaign finds to pay for personal expenses, which could get her in trouble with the law.
According to a filing made this week with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Boebert paid utility and rent bills with campaign funds.
Read more below.
FEC Filings
As reported by CNN, the problematic FEC filing details four payments this year totaling $ 6,650 to a man named John Pacheco.
Pacheco’s address is the same as the address of the Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado, which is a gun-themed restaurant owned by Boebert.
The payments are described in the filing as rent and utilities erroneously billed to Boebert’s campaign, according to the outlet.
According to the congresswoman’s spokesman Ben Stout, the funds "were reimbursed months ago when Rep. Boebert self-reported the error."
Legality
It is illegal to use campaign funds to pay for personal expenses.
According to Aday Noti, a top official with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, what Boebert did was a "flagrant violation" of the law.
However, he noted that "there are some gray areas in campaign finance law, and this is really not one of them."
Noti added that it is unclear how regulators will respond to Boebert’s actions, given that it may very well be true that she accidentally misused campaign money.
Still, FCC spokesman Christian Hilland confirmed in a statement that the agency’s finance analysts "will review Boebert’s amended report to see if it’s sufficient."
Boebert’s Husband Worked For Energy Firm
In paperwork filed with the House of Representatives in August, Boebert revealed that her husband Jayson Boebert made $ 478,000 in 2020 working as a consultant for Terra Energy Productions. He made $ 460,000 in 2019.
As The Associated Press reported, Boebert failed to report her husband’s income during the 2020 presidential election, despite being required by law to do so.
Boebert "has been a defender of the energy industry," the publication noted, which is why her husband’s work in the sector came under scrutiny.
Liberals Slam Boebert
When news broke that Boebert misused campaign funds, liberal activists, reporters and Democratic Party figures were quick to condemn her actions, per International Business Times
"Lauren Boebert opposed helping Coloradans facing eviction in the middle of a pandemic. But she illegally paid her own rent using her campaign funds," Democrat Kerry Donovan tweeted.
"Folks like Lauren Boebert will keep abusing campaign funds for personal use because they learned during the Trump years that there is no real accountability for GOP grifting," comedian Noel Casler wrote.
