A personal word from David B. Wheeler
I want to step out of the legal language for a moment.
Being called a stalker has been painful. I am a reporter. I am a dad. I am a son. I am a political activist who cares deeply about the First Amendment. I am not a stalker, and seeing that word next to my name in a court file and in national headlines has been hard on me and on the people I love.
I have never involved her minor children. I have said publicly that they are off limits, and I have kept that promise. My reporting is about the official conduct of a Member of Congress and how public money is spent. That is the job. I was doing my job.
Stalking is a serious charge. Real victims of stalking deserve to have it treated seriously. Here it has been leveled in an unserious way, in response to an Ethics complaint and a request for comment.
I spoke with my 91 year old mother today and talked her off the ledge. She’s tough and smart but was worried that the Petitioner would pull a fast one. I have also spoken with my kids (10, 14 & 16) and gave them the facts and told them why it’s important to speak up about alleged illegal acts by public officials. The kids, along with my mother, gave me their full support and love. That has calmed my nerves.
I am not going to fight this on social media. I look forward to resolving it the right way, through the legal process and with the Court, and I trust that process.
Thank you for reading, and for standing with me.
David B. Wheeler
What the court did Oct 1st
On October 1, the Weld County Court held its first contested hearing in Boebert v. Wheeler, Case No. 2026C1286. The Court sits in Greeley, Colorado. Here is where things stand.
The Honorable Dana Nichols presiding. Rep. Lauren Boebert appeared in person with attorneys Scott Gessler and Tanya Light. I appeared by Webex, and my attorneys, Alan Feldman and Dan Ernst, appeared in person.
Three things matter most:
The court stated on the record that my reporting will not violate the temporary protection order.
The court gave both sides time to file briefs on my special motion to dismiss under Colorado’s anti-SLAPP statute, C.R.S. § 13-20-1101. The case will proceed after the court rules on that motion.
The temporary order stays in place until a hearing set for November 16, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
I agreed not to “tag” the Petitioner in social media posts while this is pending. The court also allowed CBS Colorado to use the Webex conference in their reporting and as a pool.
The contempt motion that wasn’t on the calendar
On the day of the hearing, the Petitioner’s lawyers filed a Motion for Contempt Citation and tried to slip it into a proceeding that was set for something else entirely. That is not how the procedure works. A contempt request requires a citation issued by the court and a separate show-cause hearing with notice. The court said so plainly: this was not a contempt hearing. Their proposed order sits unsigned. Below is what they filed.
The motion’s theory, in my opinion, is that five posts on my X account between September 24 and 26, which mentioned her public, verified accounts, amount to “contact” with her. These were public posts to my followers about a public official and this case, including one about her financial disclosure report filed with the House Clerk. My attorney opposes the motion. The court told both sides that anyone who believes the order was violated can contact law enforcement.
Her lawyers also tried to ask for discovery. This is county court, on a protection order petition. Discovery is not allowed here. They asked anyway.
Put those two moves together and the pattern is clear: a case filed days after my Ethics complaint is now being used to try to punish my posts and dig through my files. That is exactly what the anti-SLAPP statute exists to stop.
I need your help
This court action has already cost me personally more than $15,000. That is money I do not have.
I am represented by two very competent lawyers, and they are the reason the court confirmed my reporting can continue. But good lawyers cost money, and this fight is not over.
If you value this reporting, please help me pay these legal fees. Any amount makes a difference.
David
Thank you. I mean it.
What our motion says
The petition was filed on September 24, one week after I submitted a sworn complaint to the U.S. House Committee on Ethics on September 17, and two days after I sent a demand for correction and retraction.
Our motion argues that the petition treats reporting, requests for comment, a retraction demand, public-record reporting, and an Ethics complaint as stalking. Under Colorado law, that is protected speech and petitioning. If the motion succeeds, an award of attorney fees and costs is mandatory.
What I told the court under oath
I had exactly three written contacts with the Petitioner in 2026, all by email: two requests for comment and one legal demand. None contained a threat. Two bounced because her official House mailbox was full.
I had no involvement in the Daily Mail photographs. I reposted a published article.
I live about 1,500 road miles away in North Carolina and have not been in Colorado since March 2023. I was last in Weld County in the summer of 1984 when I was a Cheley camp counselor and went to do my laundry in Longmont.
I have never threatened, followed, or surveilled her, or gone to her home or offices.
I have never tried to lure her to a hotel room.
I have no criminal record and do not own a firearm. My boys have bb guns.
The only in-person contact alleged is a handshake at a public campaign event on May 26, 2022. It lasted about eight seconds and is on video here.
What’s next
Briefs on the anti-SLAPP motion, our opposition to the contempt motion, then a ruling, then the November 16 hearing. The House Ethics complaint remains pending and will be amended
I will keep reporting, as the court confirmed I can. Stay tuned and please consider donating to keep holding Boebert accountable.
DBW
Tips: david@americanmuckrakers.com
About the Author
David B. Wheeler is the president and co-founder of American Muckrakers, the Western North Carolina accountability organization best known for helping end Madison Cawthorn’s congressional career in 2022, the rare instance in modern politics of a sitting incumbent losing his own primary because somebody bothered to do the homework. Since then, American Muckrakers has turned its attention to Lauren Boebert, Ken Paxton, and a growing roster of politicians who confuse public office with a personal ATM. He publishes accountability journalism at Muckrakers.Today.
Wheeler co-hosts the MUCK YOU! podcast with Col. Moe Davis, the retired Air Force colonel and former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. He is the author of Color the Crooks, Case File #001: Lauren Boebert, the coloring book James Carville endorsed with the words “She earned every damn page. Buy it.” *He is also the founder of VoteROI.com, a political data company built on 86.9 million FEC records that helps donors figure out where their money actually goes, which, as this essay makes clear, is a question more people should be asking.
Before all that, Wheeler spent three decades in politics, elections, and event production in more than 50 countries on all seven continents. Along the way he lowered the Mississippi River, produced the first professional sports event ever held in Moscow, and produced the first marathon ever run on Antarctica. His political education started early: Page for the Iowa House of Representatives, intern in the United States Senate, and National Committeeman for Iowa on the Young Democrats of America national committee. David was the lead advance guy for then Senator Obama in Iowa City, Iowa, in October of 2006, and then again during his presidential announcement in Waterloo, Iowa, in February 2007. And, he has some good stories from both experiences.
An Iowa native and proud Hawkeye, Wheeler is a father of three and lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina, in the district Chuck Edwards is currently failing. He believes sunlight is the best disinfectant, filings don’t lie, and the loudest guy in the room is usually the one with the most to hide.
And, Beetlejuice Boebert claimed she was going to sue him. She never did, so David sued her in Federal Court in Denver and partially won.
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This publication is First Amendment protected speech and commentary on matters of public concern. All individuals referenced are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. No portion of this publication may be used for commercial purposes without the written consent of American Muckrakers PAC, Inc. and David B. Wheeler.