American Muckrakers settles defamation lawsuit against Lauren Boebert

A group that made salacious accusations about U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has settled a lawsuit it filed against the Colorado congresswoman alleging she defamed its founder.

American Muckrakers PAC and its founder, David Wheeler, filed the suit last June in U.S. District Court in Colorado after Boebert went on national television to accuse him of making up a series of unproven accusations, including allegations of illegal activity. She also threatened to sue his donors, though she didn’t appear to follow up on that threat.

The terms of the settlement are not included in court filings. The stipulation for dismissal, filed jointly by Boebert and Wheeler’s legal teams and granted last week, includes not bringing the lawsuit again and that each party pays their own attorneys fees.

A spokesperson for Boebert’s campaign declined to comment on the settlement.

Prior to the court filings confirming the settlement, American Muckrakers issued a press release declaring victory in the suit, though the group seems to have stopped publicizing it on its website. The site still prominently features security camera footage of Boebert at a showing of the “Beetlejuice” musical in Denver last September where she was escorted out for disruptive behavior.

In an email, Wheeler said he could not disclose the settlement agreement, but he criticized Boebert’s election campaign for a different congressional seat. Boebert, who narrowly won re-election to her Western Slope seat in 2022, moved to the Front Range this year to run for the more conservative 4th Congressional District seat. She won the party’s primary there in June.