Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert has been accused of bending the truth on relatively unimportant (yet still amusing) things like alleged “lipstick” stains, but sometimes, those allegations are more meaningful. This was the case when The New York Times reported that she claimed Colorado-focused 2020 mileage expenses that would have added up to driving a third of the way around the Earth’s circumference. There are also allegations of her paying rent and bills for her (now-defunct) restaurant with campaign money, as well as a rather unbelievable sum for phone calls and texts for the campaign.
As well, Boebert’s former Shooter’s Grill employees have aired grievances about their ex-boss allegedly spending restaurant funds on luxury items and breast implants, but the reports aren’t stopping with that collection of alleged sketchiness. The Daily Beast dug into Boebert’s most recent financial disclosures and found that royalties for her July 2022 memoir, My American Life, do not appear. A spokesperson told the publication, “The book royalties will appear in her 2023 disclosure. This is consistent with guidance from the House Ethics Committee.” The spokesperson maintains that Boebert didn’t receive royalties until January 2023, but the publication cites some grey areas that could present issues due to the bolded language:
The ethics instruction guide for 2022 congressional financial disclosures makes clear that members must disclose not only royalties they received, but anticipated royalties as well–“any royalties currently due from the publisher for completed sales.”
When The Daily Beast informed Boebert’s office about the rule, the spokesperson replied that they had reached out to the Ethics Committee ahead of filing, receiving a reply on May 11 that “no royalties needed to be disclosed in the 2022 financial disclosure since there had been no payment of royalties in 2022.”
The spokesperson added that the office is consulting ethics experts again, and would amend the report if needed.
Additionally, it would seem that Matt Gaetz found himself in a similar situation in 2021, after which he did amend his statements to include $25,000 in memoir royalties during the prior year. However, both Jim Jordan and Ronny Jackson reported their royalties (and associated earnings) in 2022 and 2021, respectively speaking, the year after their books went on sale.
As the Daily Beast notes, it’s unlikely that, if a violation is found, anything would actually happen to Boebert, but this certainly doesn’t help paint a rosy portrait after multiple other reports about allegedly sketchy financials.
(Via The Daily Beast)