Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) appears to have failed to properly disclose the true source of nearly $1 million her husband made in the energy sector, in possible violation of House Ethics rules. And even worse: Some of that money appears to have been paid through a company connected directly to Boebert herself.
According to new financial disclosures, Rep. Lauren Boebert’s husband, Jayson Boebert, made $478,386 in 2020 and $460,601 in 2019 for “consulting services” he provided to a company called Terra Energy Productions, AP reported last week. (That name appears to be an error, with the intended company being Houston-based Terra Energy Partners.) A Terra Energy Partners representative confirmed to The Daily Beast on Friday that Jayson Boebert was a contracted shift worker, but was not paid directly. Instead, he was paid through a company called Boebert Consulting.
The Terra Energy representative said Rep. Boebert did not play a role in the company’s business relationship with her husband.
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But while Boebert Consulting doesn’t appear in Lauren Boebert’s recent filing, it is listed on the financial forms Boebert filed in January 2020 as a congressional candidate, as “self-emp. income” for “spouse.” The income amount is not listed, and not required by law.
Asked Wednesday to explain her husband’s consulting income source, a Boebert spokesperson told the AP, “Mr. Boebert has worked in energy production for 18 years and has had Boebert Consulting since 2012.”
But the far-right Republican lawmaker may have a problem. Colorado records show that Lauren Boebert’s company, “JLB903 LLC,” took over as Boebert Consulting’s registered agent in 2018, according to a conversion document. The company temporarily reverted back to Jayson in December 2018, but fell under Boebert’s LLC again, according to its 2019 fiscal year report, which Boebert personally filed. The listing hasn’t changed since, according to documents on the Colorado secretary of state’s website.
The report for fiscal year 2019 was filed in April 2020, three months after Boebert submitted her candidate financial disclosure showing her husband earned income through Boebert Consulting. Again, however, that disclosure does not list JBL903 LLC, and Boebert’s recent filing does not list either company.
Neither Boebert Consulting nor JLB903 LLC has filed paperwork since April 2020, according to a business database maintained by the Colorado secretary of state. A registered agent search of Jayson Boebert’s name, including alternate spellings, also returns no results.
Together, the filings indicate that between 2019 and 2020, nearly $1 million passed from Terra Energy to Boebert’s husband, some of it apparently through companies connected to Boebert, which she never reported—one of which she never disclosed at all.
In September 2020, Boebert posted an Instagram photo of herself at a drill site with her husband, who wore a Terra Energy Partners hardhat.
Kedric Payne, senior counsel and director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center, told The Daily Beast that members are required to disclose all ownership interests and other corporate connections.
“The disclosure laws require lawmakers to reveal the source of all earned income, ownership interests, and certain affiliations with LLCs. Rep. Boebert’s reports raise red flags regarding her compliance with the law,” Payne said. “Voters have a right to know what financial interests their elected officials are beholden to.”
It’s unclear whether the companies have been licensed to do business in the state. JBL903 LLC, despite still being listed as the registered agent for Boebert Consulting, has been delinquent since June 2019, according to Colorado state records. And in June of this year, Boebert Consulting went the same way, listed by the Colorado secretary of state as delinquent for failing to file its periodic report. Delinquent corporations are not authorized to do business in the state, though they may file to “cure” their delinquency and resume operations.
The new information also raises questions about personal conflicts of interest between Boebert, who sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the energy industry she’s charged with regulating.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that earlier this month, an affiliate of Terra Energy Partners—the company which contracts Jayson Boebert’s services—requested immediate approval from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for 17 new gas wells near Boebert’s hometown of Rifle, Colorado.
In February, Boebert introduced legislation to block executive moratoriums on oil and gas drilling leases on public land, which President Joe Biden had enacted weeks prior. (A federal judge struck down that executive order in June.)
“While Joe Biden continues to pander to campaign donors and extremist environmentalists, I’ll continue to fight for jobs and the people of Colorado’s Third District,” Boebert said in announcing her bill.
Boebert did not respond to requests for comment.
