By any measure, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is a buffoon. But is she a former prostitute who had two abortions?
Back in June 2022, I introduced her to this blog’s readers as a showboater who “rode her fame as a pistol-packing restaurant owner in Rifle, Colorado, to Congress, where her specialty is being obnoxious” in my posting here.
In that article I reported that a group calling itself “American Muckrakers PAC” alleged that before being elected to Congress, Boebert was a prostitute who had two abortions. For the record, I said that I didn’t know if these allegations were true.
The next day, I reported she was threatening legal action against American Muckrakers PAC, called those allegations “fabricated” and “without evidence,” and Fox News reported the photo circulated by AM PAC was of “another woman” (see my posting here).
Then about 10 days later CNN accused American Muckrakers PAC of “pushing unproven allegations” that Boebert “had abortions and formerly worked as an escort.” CNN said “Boebert gave birth to a son not more than 6 months after the supposed abortion,” and made a point-by-point rebuttal of American Muckraker PAC’s allegations. In addition, American Muckraker PAC’s spokesperson acknowledged being “sloppy” and publishing “inaccuracies,” although he still stuck to the “main points of the story” (see my posting here).
My impression was the salacious allegations against Boebert had “collapsed.” I ended that last posting by saying, “If American Muckrakers has as-yet undisclosed evidence of the allegations it’s not backing down from, let’s see it. They don’t have to wait for a court trial to disclose it. Their reputation is on the line in the court of public opinion right now. Unless and until they do, those allegations are unproven, and Boebert is entitled to the benefit of doubt.”
I figured that was the end of it. I was wrong. On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, American Muckrakers PAC and its founder, David Wheeler, sued Boebert for malicious prosecution (for getting a protection order against him) and defamation (for what she said about him and American Muckrakers PAC).
The complaint is complicated and nuanced (read it here); for example, it denies American Muckrakers PAC called Boebert a “prostitute,” asserting that term was used by media reporting the story and American Muckrakers PAC only referred to her as “an unregistered paid escort.” It also denied American Muckrakers PAC called her a “drug addict,” asserting it only reported that its sources said she used methamphetamines.
The lawsuit points out that Boebert hasn’t sued Wheeler or American Muckrakers PAC. The initial legal filing mostly focuses on what Boebert allegedly said about them, and their subsequent loss of income, but it does contain allegations like “Plaintiff Wheeler received convincing information … that Defendant was a paid performer at a bar/nude dancing club” in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Raw Story notes (here) that Boebert had “said she would pursue legal action against him, which she never did” and that her office didn’t respond to their request for comment on the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Wheeler says he looks forward to “seeing Boebert in a … court room and a conference room for a deposition.”
You know what a deposition is. The witness has to answer probing questions under oath. Questions like, “Were you ever a paid performer at Fantasy Club in Grand Junction, Colorado” and “have you ever had an abortion?” As you know, good lawyers don’t ask questions they don’t know the answers to, or have evidence to back up. In other words, Wheeler’s lawyer will ask those questions if the answer is “yes,” and won’t ask them if the answer is “no.”
Except at this point Wheeler doesn’t have a lawyer (and isn’t one himself, according to his profile here), so I’m not so sure of that, or even that his questions will survive defense objections. His best bet may be that she represents herself, too.
Or maybe the parties will quietly settle out of court, the way a lot of lawsuits are settled, and we’ll never find out what really happened. In which case I’m sure a lot of spectators and popcorn vendors will be sorely disappointed.