GOP's Lauren Boebert may face 'punitive action' for using campaign funds to pay for rent and utilities: report

On Wednesday, Forbes reported that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has admitted in Federal Election Commission documents to improperly paying for rent and utilities with campaign funding.

"The Boebert campaign's original filing for the second quarter of 2021 included four disbursements to Venmo, totaling $6,650, with a vague description: 'Personal expense of Lauren Boebert billed to campaign account in error. Expense has been reimbursed,'" reported Zach Everson. "In August, the FEC asked the campaign for more details about the payments. At the time, Boebert's spokesperson, Jake Settle, would only describe the purchases to Forbes as 'personal expenses.'"

According to amended filings released on Tuesday, two disbursements were $2,000 for "rent" and the other two were "rent/utilities," all of which have now been reimbursed. Nonetheless, per the report, "Boebert's campaign may face punitive action for the payments," as the FEC warned in an August letter, although the letter added, "prompt action to obtain reimbursement of the funds in question will be taken into consideration."

This is not the first time Boebert has come under scrutiny for unusual campaign spending.

In August, she admitted that her campaign "under-reported a lot of stuff," to the FEC. She has also raised red flags among ethics watchdogs for claiming excessive campaign mileage expenses, logging 38,712 miles in three months for more than $22,000 in reimbursement — a longer distance than the circumference of the earth.