Lauren Boebert spent hundreds of dollars of campaign money at the LGBT-friendly bar owned by her Beetlejuicebeau Quinn Gallagher, according to records.
The Colorado congresswoman’s most recent campaign finance filings reveal that she spent $317.48 at Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen in late July – two months before she and her date were escorted out of a Denver production of the musical Beetlejuice for vaping and “causing a disturbance”.
The Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar is co-owned by Mr Gallagher and has hosted many LGBT+-friendly events, including the “Winter Wonderland Burlesque and Drag Show”.
The campaign expenditure at Hooch was listed under “event catering”.
The Independent has contacted Ms Boebert’s office for comment.
The revelation comes after Ms Boebert came under fire for her behaviour at the Beetlejuice show, which she attended with 46-year-old Mr Gallagher.
The congresswoman and her date were asked to leave the theatre after they were accused of vaping, singing, taking pictures and engaging in heavy petting during the performance.
Ms Boebert was also accused of insulting a pregnant woman who was sitting behind her during the performance.
The Denver Post reported that the woman asked Ms Boebert to stop vaping, to which the congresswoman replied “no”.
The woman, who described Ms Boebert’s behaviour as “outrageous”, also alleged the congresswoman called her a “sad and miserable person” after she asked to move seats during the intermission.
A police incident report revealed that Ms Boebert and Mr Gallagher were escorted out of the theatre after the congresswoman was warned about her behaviour during an intermission following three complaints.
Lauren Boebert was removed from a Beetlejuice show— (9News)
“They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theater and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would (be) going to get Denver Police. They said go get them,” an usher is quoted as saying in the report.
The report states that the two theatregoers were then taken down to the vestibule, where they refused to leave, telling staff “stuff like ‘do you know who I am,’ ‘I am on the board’ (and) ‘I will be contacting the mayor’”.
Police arrived and stayed in the theatre until Ms Boebert and her companion left, according to the police report.
The congresswoman initially denied there was any bad behaviour or that she was vaping, before surveillance footage, first obtained by NBC, contradicted her claim.
Surveillance footage also caught the couple engaging in heavy-petting during the show, something several members of the Republican congresswoman’s own party criticised her for – given her opposition to LGBT+ rights such as claiming that drag performances will expose children to lewd sexual acts.
Last June, Ms Boebert had claimed: “Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.”
Several conservative figures called her out for her hypocrisy, with Meghan McCain writing on X: “She lectures everyone about the LGBT community being a threat to children while getting caught performing a lewd sex act in a public theatre where children possibly were.
Lauren Boebert seen being escorted out of theatre— (9News)
“This is ‘family values’? This is why people think the GOP are all hypocrites.”
After the footage came to light, Ms Boebert was forced to apologise for her behaviour.
She insisted her actions were not “malicious” and were not “meant to cause harm”. The congresswoman also said she “genuinely did not recall vaping” at the show.
In the weeks following the incident, the Republican congresswoman revealed she had split up with Mr Gallagher after learning he was a Democrat.
In April, Ms Boebert filed for divorce from her husband of 18 years Jayson Boebert.
