Lauren Boebert did not declare income from her book that appeared last July on her most recent disclosure form, which could be a problem.
Lauren Boebert Is Pure Drama These Days
Rep. Lauren Boebert has been part of all sorts of controversies in recent months, from the lawsuit against Boebert by a liberal Super PAC to her divorce to rumors about her love life to the final resolution of the long saga involving whether a famous 1980s pro wrestler is her father. Also, she recently filed articles of impeachment against President Biden.
Now, the Colorado Congresswoman is potentially in hot water, over the question of disclosures of income she made from her 2022 memoir.
According to The Daily Beast, Boebert failed to disclose any income on her House disclosure from “My American Life,” the autobiography that she released last summer.
The 224-page book, which featured a forward by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), featured Boebert on the cover along with her then-husband and children.
“Lauren Boebert is the Republican, gun-toting Congresswoman from Rifle, Colorado who overcame difficult life circumstances to be a leading voice for personal freedom and our 2nd Amendment rights. Raised on welfare in a Democrat household, young Lauren learned from her first job at McDonald’s that she could provide for herself better than the government ever could,” the book jacket company says.
On Amazon, the book has an average customer review of 4.6 stars out of 5.
Boebert’s representatives claim that the Congresswoman did not receive any money from the book until this year, “the book royalties will appear in her 2023 disclosure.”
While Boebert’s spokesperson told the Daily Beast that disclosing that revenue is consistent with House ethics rules, experts quoted by the publication stated otherwise.
Members of Congress are expected to disclose “expected royalties,” including “any royalties currently due from the publisher for completed sales.”
Boebert’s office went on to tell the publication that they were told by the committee that ““no royalties needed to be disclosed in the 2022 financial disclosure since there had been no payment of royalties in 2022.”
“Alarm bells ring when a lawmaker has book sales but doesn’t report book income,” Kedric Payne, vice president and senior director of ethics at nonpartisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center, told the Beast. ““Voters have a right to know that their elected officials are fully transparent about their financial interests.”
The report also said that other authors in Congress, even those with the same publisher as Boebert, have managed to disclose things correctly.
“It does seem odd that she’s claiming there were no royalties earned—even if not paid—during the first six months of the book’s release,” Jordan Libowitz, communications director at government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the publication. “If she could not calculate the royalties, that would still need to be disclosed,” Libowitz added. “She does not disclose anything about the book on her forms, which is unusual in this type of situation.”
Back when the book was released, The Independent published a review of it, describing the memoir as “221 pages of God, guns and election fraud claims.”
“By this point in the book, it could have been written by Congressman Matt Gaetz or Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene,” the newspaper’s review says. “Some details might be different, but the stories are all the same — praising Mr Trump, denouncing Democrats, parroting election fraud lies, defending their actions during the Capitol riot.”
Also this week, a man who lives in Florida and pled guilty last fall to making threats against Boebert was sentenced to 15 months in prison. According to the Palm Beach Post, the man had sent threatening messages to the Congresswoman, stating that someone would “show your face the 2nd amendment in practice with a copper jacket. Enjoy.”
The man apologized in court but was nonetheless sentenced to prison and an additional year of probation.
Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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