January 08, 2024 11:50 AM UTC

Death Spiral Meets Train Wreck: Another Awful Weekend For Lauren Boebert

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Colorado Public Radio’s Paolo Zialcita reports, police were called Saturday night to the Miner’s Claim restaurant in Silt by Jayson Boebert, the ex-husband of Colorado’s ever-bubbling cauldron of controversy Rep. Lauren Boebert, after dinner between the exes deteriorated into the Congresswoman from Garfield County somewhere in Eastern Colorado TBD allegedly punching Jayson repeatedly:

Silt police are investigating an alleged altercation between U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and her ex-husband Jayson Boebert.

On Sunday, Jayson Boebert told news outlet The Daily Beast that his ex-wife punched him in the face multiple times at Miner’s Claim, a restaurant in Silt. Local law enforcement did not confirm reports of a physical altercation, but said it would review security footage from the restaurant. Jayson Boebert later said he regretted calling the authorities, stating he would ask police to drop any charges.

Silt Police Chief Mike Kite told CPR News the department will continue its investigation either way. He said the investigation is ongoing, but declined to release further details.

CPR News also attempted to reach Jayson Boebert but was unable to leave a message with him.

Jayson may not be talking to local news media, but he apparently is in communication with none other than David Wheeler, the head of the American Muckrakers group which despite some hits and misses has served as one of Boebert’s most dogged gadflies. Immediately after Saturday’s incident, Jayson Boebert was texting Wheeler the details:

In a statement responding to news reports about the incident, Rep. Boebert throws Jayson implicitly under the bus as usual, while issuing what we can only describe as an overly carefully-worded denial about the alleged domestic violence committed by the congresswoman:

“This is a sad situation for all that keeps escalating and another reason I’m moving,” Boebert said in a statement on Sunday. “I didn’t punch Jayson in the face and no one was arrested. [Pols emphasis] I will be consulting with my lawyer about the false claims he made against me and evaluate all of my legal options.”

Note how Boebert says only that she did not punch Jayson “in the face,” leaving open the possibility that Jayson was indeed, you know, punched elsewhere. Boebert doesn’t allege any specific instigator other than the “sad situation…that keeps escalating,” and crucially doesn’t accuse Jayson of getting physical with her or otherwise provoking the incident. Colorado law requires an arrest for domestic violence calls if there is probable cause to suspect violence or threats of violence. The fact that no one was arrested does leave unanswered questions, but keep in mind that Silt police and other law enforcement in the area have been dealing with the Boeberts for a long, long, long time. It would be sad but unsurprising to find local authorities complacent in enforcing the law against this particular ex-power couple.

If Boebert is hit with domestic violence charges as a result of the investigation, it would be one of the few political disasters left that Boebert could inflict upon herself after one of the most complete self-destructions in Colorado political history since barely holding on to her seat in 2022, culminating in the “Beetlebert” catastrophe and Boebert’s subsequent desperate switch to run for retiring Rep. Ken Buck’s open seat on the opposite side of the state. Boebert would be immediately required to surrender her trademark hip-mounted Glock and all the other firearms she keeps casually strewn about the home to intimidate her colleagues on conference calls. The usual course for a first-time misdemeanor domestic violence offender is anger management classes, probation, and if Boebert is fully cooperative, the possibility of the charges being eventually deferred.

Suffice to say it’s a process that would take longer than Boebert’s political career would last.

Either way, there’s an argument that Boebert would find some anger management coursework useful no matter what comes next in life, even that increasingly unlikely third term in office. Politico reported this weekend on the toll 2023 took on Boebert as she failed to learn the lessons of her narrow survival the year before and became the target of open contempt from her former supporters.

The signs that the walls were closing in were everywhere, yet Boebert hardly seemed chastened in the months after her narrow escape from defeat. In March 2023, at a Colorado Parks and Wildlife public meeting in Grand Junction regarding the state’s plan to reintroduce gray wolves, Boebert made a surprise appearance, took to the mic and began a strident condemnation of state employees. The group of ranchers in the audience yelled for her to “sit down” and “shut up.” [Pols emphasis]

That moment is coming fast now, no matter which district Boebert runs in or what charges she gets slapped with. Boebert has entered a political death spiral from which there is no recovery.

Wherever the source, on that day some therapy will help.