Federal elections overseers have questions about Rep. Lauren Boebert’s campaign finances, after a recent filing showed four Venmo payments totalling over $6,500 were sent to her personal account from her campaign.
The Federal Election Commission told her campaign in a letter it wants more information on what appears to be Boebert's personal use of campaign funds. If that’s the case, the commission said it may consider legal action. However, if the campaign can provide prompt proof that Boebert reimbursed the funds to her campaign, that will be taken into account.
Federal officials also reprimanded Boebert for a dozen contributions that exceeded federal limits. Boebert’s campaign must either redesignate excess funds to a different election or refund them.
Boebert’s campaign has maintained the Venmo charges were personal expenses that were “billed to the campaign account in error” and were repaid.
“The reimbursement has already happened and will appear in the Q3 filing,” Boebert’s communication director Ben Stout said in an email statement.
The FEC letter isn't the only part of Boebert's finances in the news this week. A required disclosure form for the House revealed that her husband made almost a half million dollars last year as an energy consultant for “Terra Energy Productions”. In 2019, he made $460,000 from the same company.
On her candidate filings during her campaign, Boebert listed her husband as having a consulting business, but put his income as N/A.
There is no company called Terra Energy Productions registered in the state. However, the similarly-named Houston-based Terra Energy Partners bills itself as the largest operator in the Western Slope’s Piceance Basin, and operates thousands of oil wells in Boebert’s district. A representative for the company reached via telephone declined to comment and did not verify whether the two names are one and the same.
Boebert’s campaign said the income shouldn’t come as a surprise, given her husband’s career.
“Mr. Boebert has worked in energy production for 18 years and has had Boebert Consulting since 2012,” Stout told CPR News.
Boebert has been a strong advocate for oil and gas development in Congress; she introduced a bill to repeal President Biden’s moratorium on new drilling leases on public lands. She also sits on the House Natural Resources Committee.
CPR's Caitlyn Kim contributed to this report
