Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is a QAnon proponent of the same ilk as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Both are gun-toting mamas who stride around the new metal detectors, the very real possibility of a loaded weapon among their things, apparently enjoying the fear they instill in some of their fellow representatives. Boebert even owns a gun-themed restaurant.
Now the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is investigating the $20,000-plus mileage reimbursements she claimed she racked up during her 2020 campaign. That is over twice what her predecessor claimed.
Her opponent Scott Tipton (R-CO) reported 17,576 in mileage for the first two quarters of the previous year, according to FEC records. He claimed $10,000 for campaign travel expenses over a comparable timeframe. That also included his airfare. The former Colorado representative lost to Boebert after 10 years in office.
Campaign for Accountability (CFA), a nonprofit organization, said that both she and her Treasurer of Laurent Boebert for Congress Mike McCauley could have violated FEC regulations.
There were two mileage reimbursement checks to her from the campaign. The first was on March 31, 2020, for $1,059.62, and the second was filed on November 11, for an astounding $21,199.52, according to The Huffington Post.
The last reimbursement claimed at the government reimbursement rate of 57.5 cents per mile, which meant that the representative would need to have had to driven 36,868 miles in seven months to account for that unusually high amount. The Huffington Post reported:
‘To put that in perspective, that’s about one and a half times the circumference of the earth, 24,850 miles.’
Boebert’s campaign expense records were not well-kept. Therefore, she cannot “substantiate the mileage reimbursement,” according to the FEC complaint. The campaign has refused to offer proof of her travel records and claims.
Coincidentally or not, The Colorado Newsline reported the representative’s restaurant, Shooter’s Grill, was in hock for almost $20,000 for back taxes. There were unpaid unemployment insurance premiums. Right before the 2020 election, the restaurant paid off all of the back taxes.
CFA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith released an email statement that read:
‘Rep. Boebert’s mileage claim doesn’t pass the smell test. It’s also quite a coincidence that the amount she reimbursed herself is just a little more than the $19,000 in liens she repaid in October 2020.’
Colorado Public Radio added up the mileage for 129 campaign appearances and came up with a plausible 30,000 miles.
The Denver Post compared the sitting representative’s 80 public events:
‘[It] concluded she would have had to travel 17,623 miles to attend all of them, assuming the candidate drove round trip each day from her home in Silt, Colorado.’
The campaign disagreed with the newspaper’s analysis. It said that the Denver Post only considered “a small sampling” of the candidate’s events.
The 3rd Congressional District, which Boebert represents is over “50,000 square miles.” The campaign claimed the newspaper only accounted for “a small sampling” of Boebert’s events.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
