Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert has been accused of illegally spending $60,000 on campaign calls and texts in the run-up to November's midterm election.
End Citizens United has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging the Republican's political action committee spent tens of thousands of dollars on so-called "get out the vote" contact calls and texts that were not reported accurately.
According to the FEC filing, seen exclusively by Newsweek, Boebert, her campaign Lauren Boebert For Colorado, We The People Leadership PAC and Taylor Moose, her PAC and campaign treasurer, are accused of failing to accurately report communications as independent expenditures or in-kind contributions on their reports filed with the Commission.
The group alleges the "get out the vote" (GOTV) calls may have been made to support Boebert's congressional race, in which she defeated Democrat Adam Frisch by just 546 votes. Boebert may have made an illegal in-kind contribution to herself that exceeds the $5,000 limit set by federal law, or spent money to influence another campaign without reporting it, as required by federal law, alleges End Citizens United—itself a PAC that campaigns to get "big money out of politics" and has supported Democratic candidates.
Boebert's narrow reelection was among the most notable examples of Republicans underperforming in the 2022 midterms, when the party failed to regain the Senate and secured a much smaller House majority than anticipated. Prior to the midterms, Frisch's campaign was considered a longshot in the predominantly Republican district, which Boebert had carried by 9 percent when she first won office in 2020.
"Congresswoman Boebert used her leadership PAC as a personal bank but, unfortunately for her, this practice is illegal under federal law," End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller told Newsweek.
"The timing of the purchases and the fact that it was made to the same vendor her campaign used clearly illustrates that she was attempting to bypass federal law to either influence her own race or another campaign. The FEC should launch an investigation into this corrupt scheme and hold Congresswoman Boebert accountable."
Boebert's office said the allegations were "another bogus complaint" from a Democrat-controlled political action committee.
"Once we actually receive the complaint, that was leaked to the press and never sent to us, counsel will respond," a spokesperson for Boebert told Newsweek.
"Having said that, because the allegations in the story were a matter where we received a legal opinion prior to taking action, we are confident there is nothing here and this is another baseless attack."
Federal law states if a leadership PAC pays for communications, such as GOTV calls, to support a candidate, the cost becomes an in-kind contribution and counts against the leadership PAC's $5,000 per-election contribution limit to that candidate.
Lauren Boebert For Congress reported paying $4,623.22 to Telephone Town Hall Meeting, Inc. for "text message advertising" on October 28, 2022, FEC filings show, while We The People Leadership PAC paid $6,221.73 to Telephone Town Hall Meeting, Inc. for "Voter Contact – GOTV Calls/Texts" the same day.
On November 18, 2022, We The People Leadership PAC reported a second disbursement to Telephone Town Hall Meeting, Inc. for $53,760.25 for conducting "Voter Contact – GOTV Calls/Texts," FEC filings show.
End Citizens United allege that due to the "proximity" of the communications to the election, the cost of the disbursement, and the purpose of the disbursement for "Voter Contact – GOTV Calls/Texts," it seems likely that the text messages and voter contact phone calls mentioned candidates or political parties, and may have run in Boebert's congressional district.
The group believes that as two of the payments occurred on the same day, this also indicates the leadership PAC's disbursement was either a contribution to Boebert's campaign or an independent expenditure in support of Boebert or other candidates.
Boebert's leadership PAC is also accused of not reporting any independent expenditures during the 2022 midterm election cycle, or reporting any in-kind contributions resulting from the voter contact calls and texts, worth close to $60,000.
"As such, we respectfully request that the Commission immediately investigate this apparent violation, fine Respondents the maximum amount permitted by law, and enjoin Respondents from further violations of the law," End Citizens United's complaint says.
Update 05/07/2023 6:06 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Lauren Boebert's office.
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