Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Speaks at a press conference held by members of the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 29, 2021, to complain about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and masking policies. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
DENVER (AP) – Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s husband earned $ 478,000 last year as a consultant for an energy company, information that was withheld during Boebert’s election campaign and that were only reported in its financial disclosure forms filed this week.
In documents filed Tuesday with the House of Representatives, the Republican MP said her husband, Jayson Boebert, received the money as a consultant from “Terra Energy Productions” in 2020 and earned $ 460,000 as a consultant for the company in 2019.
Boebert did not report the income last year, when she stunned politics by ousting outgoing Rep. Scott Tipton during the GOP primary in Colorado’s sprawling 3rd District, which stretches from ski resorts to the energy-rich basins of the western part of the state. Boebert won the general election in the Republican-leaning district.
Campaign ethics and finance laws require candidates and members of Congress to disclose their immediate family’s sources of income, as well as major investments and assets, in order to enable voters to assess conflicting issues. potential interests. Boebert has been an advocate for the energy industry, which is very active in his district.
Boebert’s disclosure of additional household income came as the Federal Election Commission this week asked his campaign for information about a series of campaign transactions. The FEC asked why the campaign sent Boebert $ 6,000 through Venmo in four separate transactions on May 3 and June 3. The campaign told the FEC that the transactions were errors and that they had been refunded.
In her previous filing, Boebert said her income came from a gun-themed restaurant she and her husband ran in Rifle, Colo., And an affiliated smokehouse. Boebert also indicated “Boebert Consulting – spouse” on the application form, but indicated her husband’s source of income as “N / A”.
Kedric Payne, a former deputy chief lawyer in the Congressional Ethics Office who now works at the Campaign Legal Center, said Boebert should have fully disclosed her husband’s sources of income last year.
“The spouse is supposed to disclose the source of any income earned and it doesn’t match what was on the previous record,†Payne said,
“Mr. Boebert has been in power generation for 18 years and has Boebert Consulting since 2012,†said Ben Stout, MP’s deputy chief of staff, in an email. Congresswoman, I refer you to the disclosure she filed. “
No company called Terra Energy Productions is registered with the state. But Terra Energy Partners, a Houston-based company that boasts of being “one of Colorado’s largest natural gas producers,” has a strong presence in the Boebert district. The company did not return a call for comment.
Boebert became a partisan lightning rod during his brief stint in Congress, insisting on his right to bring a gun to House floors, voting to undo President Joe Biden’s victory in two states and maintaining a fiery presence on social networks.
His disclosure form says his restaurant, Shooters Grill, lost $ 143,000 in 2019 and $ 226,000 in 2020. His candidacy was in part motivated by his protest against the closures at the start of the pandemic last year, which, according to her, threatened companies like hers.
