The aide accused of an affair with Lauren Boebert received a cryptic warning about secrets that would jeopardize her “current relationship” before the alleged fling was exposed.
Clarice Navarro’s ex-husband cautioned her about potential consequences if their post-marital dispute ended up before a judge in explosive filings from a bitter court wrangle.
In a letter to Navarro obtained by PunchUp, Jace Ratzlaff wrote that “there will be things exposed that would impact your current relationship.” He added that this could also affect “whatever image you think you might have left.”
The document does not state who was in the relationship with Navarro, and Ratzlaff has not publicly identified them.
The date of the letter—Dec. 19, 2024—corresponds with an explosive ethics complaint that alleged Navarro and Boebert were involved in a romantic and sexual relationship from 2021 until January 2025. Both women emphatically deny the allegation, which was filed last week.
Boebert, 39, said: “I reject these baseless allegations as utterly false and there is no truth to them whatsoever. I have never had a sexual relationship or an inappropriate romantic relationship with any member of my staff—past or present.
“This is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to manipulate the ethics process, create headlines, smear me, and generate clickbait.”
PunchUp—the Daily Beast’s sister investigations Substack—asked Ratzlaff, Navarro and Boebert whether the ex-husband was referring to the MAGA congresswoman in his letter. All three declined to answer.
The document is part of an unrelated protection-order battle that Ratzlaff brought against Navarro—a former Colorado State representative who worked in the first Trump administration—in Mesa County earlier this year.
Ratzlaff—a former legislative & government relations director at the Department of Agriculture in Denver—sought a temporary civil protection order against his former wife in July, making allegations including stalking.
A judge initially granted a temporary order after a hearing in which Navarro had not yet had the opportunity to contest the allegations.
After hearing evidence from both sides, the judge denied Ratzlaff’s request for a permanent protection order, vacated the temporary injunction, and dismissed the case.
Navarro told PunchUp: “These allegations are totally false, defamatory, and were already rejected and dismissed by the court.” Ratzlaff did not respond.
The court battle has taken on a new significance since David Wheeler, president of American Muckrakers, filed the ethics complaint against Boebert on Sept. 17.
Wheeler alleges that Navarro, who served as Boebert’s district director from January 2021 until January 2025, had a years-long sexual relationship with her boss. His complaint also makes a series of financial allegations, including that Navarro later received approximately $200,000 after allegedly threatening to file an ethics complaint of her own.
He acknowledges in his filing that he does not know the source of the alleged $200,000.
Navarro and Boebert have categorically rejected Wheeler’s accusations. “These allegations regarding me are entirely false, defamatory, and beyond ridiculous,” Navarro told the Colorado Times Recorder. She added: “There is absolutely no truth to any part of this claim.”
In contrast, Ratzlaff gave a curious response when Wheeler’s allegations became public. “I assumed this would eventually surface,” he said in a statement included with American Muckrakers’ release. “I’ll have no further comment on this topic.”
When the Colorado Times Recorder subsequently reached him directly, Ratzlaff declined to explain what he meant. “Divorce is painful. I have children. I’m three years post-divorce,” he said. “This is not my issue.”
Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.
