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Business records tie Rep. Lauren Boebert to husband’s natural gas consulting firm

Lauren Boebert at a campaign event in Pueblo West in September 2020. (Associated Press file)
Jayson Boebert reported nearly $1M in payments over two years

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s name appears in business documents filed with the state for the oil and gas consulting firm run by her husband, Boebert Consulting, which was paid about $1 million over the past two years by a drilling company that has a large presence on the Western Slope.

The Garfield County Republican is the registered agent of JLB903 LLC, which is, in turn, the registered agent of Boebert Consulting run by her husband, Jayson, according to records reviewed by The Colorado Sun, as well as information from Boebert’s office and a financial disclosure the congresswoman filed this week.

The revelation poses more questions about the Boeberts’ finances and their close ties to the oil and gas industry, which have come under increasing scrutiny from opponents in recent days. The congresswoman’s office said she does not work for Boebert Consulting, but it did not answer whether she owns the firm.

Boebert, who sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, has been a major cheerleader for the oil and gas industry, often citing her husband’s work.

“My husband works in the natural gas industry,” she told Colorado Public Radio last year. “He drills for natural gas. He has for 17 years, and I know that when our industry’s bad here, he usually goes somewhere else to work. That is a very hard strain on the family, and there are many families that haven’t recovered from that.”

Terra Energy Partners, which is based in Texas, boasts on its website that it’s the largest operator in the Piceance Basin, which spans western Colorado into Utah.

Terra purchased Ursa Resources, another oil and gas company, in December for $60 million. Ursa had a large presence in western Colorado, and its history includes a contentious effort to drill wells in the Battlement Mesa community between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, near where the Boeberts live just outside Silt.

Lauren Boebert’s financial disclosure reported that Jayson Boebert was paid $478,386 in 2020 for “consulting services” by Terra Energy Partners – mistakenly reported as Terra Energy Production in the disclosure – and $460,601 in 2019. Boebert Consulting wasn’t listed on the document, but Ben Stout, a spokesman for Boebert, said the consulting firm was paid for Jayson’s work.

Boebert Consulting appeared in the congresswoman’s 2020 candidate financial disclosure with “NA” – as in not applicable – written in the income reporting boxes for 2018 and 2019.

Lauren Boebert’s 2020 candidate financial disclosure. (Screenshot)

Stout said Jayson “is not an employee of Terra Energy” but that he has provided contract drilling services to Terra since 2017. That’s years before Boebert announced her candidacy for Congress.

The company confirmed his work history.

“Mr. Boebert has provided contract drilling services as an on-site drilling foreman to Terra since 2017,” Suzanne Smith, head of human resources for Terra Energy, said in a written statement to the Sun.

An April 2020 business filing for Boebert Consulting LLC, the most recent paperwork filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, changed the registered agent for the consulting firm from Jayson Boebert to another business entity, JLB903 LLC. That business, created in 2018, lists Lauren Boebert as its registered agent.

Jayson Boebert last appeared as the registered agent for Boebert Consulting in December 2018, according to documents filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The Secretary of State requires businesses to have a registered agent, an official contact who can receive legal paperwork for a company. The agent isn’t necessarily an owner or officer for the business, but can be.

Both Boebert Consulting LLC, formed in 2012, and JLB903 LLC are listed as delinquent by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, meaning they missed deadlines to file updated paperwork.

JLB903 also appears to be tied to Top Gun Catering, Shooters Gear and Shooters Grill, the Boeberts’ well-known restaurant in Rifle.

Lauren Boebert actually didn’t have to reveal her husband’s exact income, according to disclosure rules. None of the other Colorado U.S. House members with working spouses did.

Her financial disclosure was filed Tuesday after the Sun contacted her office about a missed Aug. 13 extended deadline.

Boebert also reported operational losses for her restaurant, Shooters Grill, of $143,233 in 2019 and $226,234 in 2020.

Other takeaways from Boebert’s disclosure include:

  • A home mortgage, secured in 2018, between $250,001 and $500,000
  • A checking account that has a balance between $1,001 and $15,000

No stocks or other bank accounts were reported in the disclosure.

Colorado Sun correspondent Sandra Fish contributed to this report. The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.