Eagle County Commissioners rebuke Lauren Boebert in letter
Commissioners: ’Your passion must now be bridled with the full responsibility to that office’
In the wake of last week’s U.S. Capitol riots, the three members of the Eagle County Board of Commissioners have officially admonished newly-elected 3rd Congressional District Rep. Lauren Boebert for her actions during the attempted insurrection and in the days leading up to the melee.
The three county commissioners, who are Democrats, all signed a letter sent to Boebert, a Republican, noting that her first official act as a U.S. Representative was “a direct assault on the Constitution that you have glorified in your rhetoric as a candidate and have now sworn to uphold in your oath of office.”
“You are Colorado’s newest member of Congress, and you represent most of Eagle County,” reads the commissioners’ letter. “Your first act in that great body was to refuse the votes submitted to you by every state. That vote is ceremonial, as refusing the electoral vote is not a power granted to Congress. Perhaps that apparent lack of real consequence is why you and many of your fellow representatives chose to make what could only be considered a political statement with your votes.”
Commissioner Matt Scherr authored the letter, which he began composing as a personal missive to Boebert. After the Capitol was secured and more details of the riot emerged, Scherr said he and his fellow commissioners began talking about whether or not it was appropriate for them to officially weigh in on the national situation..
“We all three struggled with that idea of whether we should be doing something as an elected group,” said Scherr. “We all struggled with what is appropriate to do.”
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Ultimately, the commissioners decided it was no longer appropriate to remain quiet. Silence has allowed a monster, fed by misinformation, to grow nationwide, Scherr said.
“That monster will not die when President Trump leaves office,” he added. “We have to deal with it.”
“We have a lot of concerns about assaults on the Republic,” Scherr said. “We have come this far by pacifying things, by not calling them out at all levels. It is incumbent upon us, at so many political levels, to guard our Republic. That is not something you typically think of as the role of a county commissioner. But apparently, it is.”
Calls to Boebert’s Congressional office for comment on the Eagle County Commissioners’ letter were unanswered on Monday. Her office issued a statement roundly denying that the Congresswoman acted inappropriately last week.
“They accuse me of live-tweeting the Speaker’s presence after she had been safely removed from the Capitol, as if I was revealing some big secret, when in fact this removal was also being broadcast on TV,” the statement says. “They act as if Republicans created objections to the Electoral College certification out of thin air, when it was Democrats who objected in 2001, 2005 and 2017. They act as though a reference to the founding of our country and the bravery of upholding our Constitutional oath is criminal, which says a whole lot more about them than it does about me or any other Republican.”
“I denounced the violence over the summer just as I did the recent events at the Capitol. I defended our Constitution and I always will. America will persevere because freedom always prevails,” the statement reads.
Calls for an investigation
The letter to Boebert notes that the county commissioners have added their names to the call for an investigation of her actions “leading up to and following the insurrection.”
“As a candidate, fanning the flames of insurrection with spurious claims of election fraud was grossly irresponsible, and yet your right granted by the Constitution. As an official fairly elected to office, to then assume and exercise an authority not granted to you by that same Constitution is neither legal, ethical, or moral,” the letter states. “The storming of the Capitol is a clear indication of what consequence your leadership can have. Your passion for our nation and its values is admirable. You have now assumed the mantle of the public trust, and your passion must now be bridled with the full responsibility to that office and to the people it represents. You have violated your oath of office and can no longer claim to represent the people through that office.”
Scherr said his favorite part of the letter is its conclusion, where the commissioners advise Boebert that she “can restore both the faith of your constituents and the legitimacy of your claim to office with an apology and a restatement of your oath and a vow to better understand the responsibility to that oath and to the people you represent, not just your admirers.”
In electing Boebert, Scherr said a majority of the voters in the 3rd Congressional District indicated they supported her governmental inexperience and her passion.
“I think she is new at this. After the events of last week, she could decide she really badly screwed up and come to contrition,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for people who admit to making mistakes and committing themselves to do better in the future.”
The goal of the letter, Scherr stressed, is not to future polarize residents within Eagle County or in the district, state or nation. The idea, he said, is to call out what they see as unacceptable behavior and willful ignorance of Constitutional powers and responsibilities.
“Character matters and clearly words matter from leader,” Scherr said. “We tried before not to say anything because we didn’t want to exacerbate the problem. But now we need to make a call to people’s better angels.”
