Boebert used campaign funds for rent, utilities in violation of law

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) used campaign funds for rent and utilities, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The filing, submitted to the FEC on Tuesday, revealed that Boebert reimbursed the campaign $6,650 worth of payments for rent and utilities that were billed to the campaign through Venmo in error.
The filing shows that four payments for rent and utilities — two of which were priced at $2,000 and the others at $1,325 each — were amended to reflect payments of the same amount, description and on the same days to John Pachecho.
According to The Denver Post, which first reported on Boebert’s payments, Pachecho’s address is the same as Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo., which is owned by Boebert.
The relationship between Boebert and Pachecho was not immediately clear, the Post noted.
Jake Settle, Boebert’s press secretary, told The Hill that the congresswoman paid personal expenses with the campaign account in error, then quickly reimbursed the account.
He also said the congresswoman had self-reported the error.
The questionable filing was first discovered in the July campaign finance report of the “Lauren Boebert for Congress” committee, according to the Post. Payments made out to Venmo were described as “Personal expense of Lauren Boebert billed to campaign account in error. Expense has been reimbursed.”
The FEC had asked Boebert’s campaign why it sent her $6,650 via Venmo in four different transactions on May 3 and June 3. The campaign said the payments were made in error and had been reimbursed.
The next month, when officials at the FEC asked the campaign for more information regarding the error, Settle told Forbes that he would describe the payments as “personal expenses.”
Shannon Ringgold, senior campaign finance analyst at the FEC, however, wrote to Boebert’s campaign in August that if the payments were “personal use of campaign funds, the Commission may consider taking further legal action.”
“However, prompt action to obtain reimbursement of the funds in question will be taken into consideration,” she added.
In the filing submitted on Tuesday, Boebert’s campaign again said the expenses were reimbursed and would be reported by the campaign in October.
The revelation that Boebert used campaign funds to pay for rent and utilities comes after her August financial disclosure showed that her husband, Jayson Boebert, received $478,000 from Terra Energy Productions last year for “consulting services,” which she did not report during her campaign.
He also received $460,000 from the same firm in 2019.
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