U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert said Wednesday that news accounts detailing what happened when a process server attempted to serve divorce papers on her husband Jayson were inaccurate.
The Rifle Republican confirmed Tuesday that she filed for divorce from her husband of nearly 18 years, calling the decision "truly about irreconcilable differences" and adding that she wasn't going to discuss the matter further.
The next day, however, Boebert took to Twitter to refute what she characterized as "a complete lie" and "slanderous stories" in news reports about the process server's interaction with her husband, which were based on a sworn affidavit filed by Mike Estep, the process server hired by Boebert's Grand Junction-based divorce attorney.
"I have always spoken highly of my marriage. I believe in marriage. I believe in the power our words hold," Boebert said in a lengthy post on the social media site.
"Jayson, a man I spent half of my life with, did not sign up to be in the public limelight, and he certainly did not agree to be falsely accused of things he didn't do."
"The stories reported about the process server, and even Jayson running over a mailbox are a complete lie," she added, referencing news stories about a recent, unrelated incident allegedly involving an argument with the couple's neighbors.
I have always spoken highly of my marriage. I believe in marriage. I believe in the power our words hold. Jayson, a man I spent half of my life with, did not sign up to be in the public limelight, and he certainly did not agree to be falsely accused of things he didn't do.The…
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 17, 2023
The couple were married in 2005 and have four sons ranging in age from 10 to 18. Lauren Boebert announced earlier this year that their oldest son was due to become a father in April, noting that she was on track to become a grandmother at age 36, the same age her mother was when she made her a grandmother.
According to court documents obtained by Colorado Politics, Estep said he left the divorce paperwork on a chair outside the Boeberts' home at about 12:30 p.m. on April 25 after Jayson Boebert became enraged and refused to accept the documents once he learned what they were.
"I could see that he was drinking a tall glass of beer and cleaning a gun that was sitting on a table," Estep wrote, describing what happened after Jayson Boebert answered the door and confirmed his identity.
"Once he learned he was being served with Dissolution of Marriage papers he was extremely angry," Estep wrote. "I tried to hand him the documents but he did not take them. He started yelling and using profanities, and told me that I was trespassing, and that he was calling the Sheriff's Office. I told him I was leaving the documents on the chair outside of the door, he closed the door then let the dogs out."
In an attached, handwritten field sheet, the process server noted: "Refuse to sign!!! He locked the door after he put the dogs out. Told me he was calling the cops."
Numerous national — and even international — news outlets recounted details from the process server's report.
Although she didn't deny that Jayson Boebert reacted angrily, Lauren Boebert took issue on Wednesday with several details repeated in the accounts, including how her husband prefers to drink beer and whether the dogs were inside or outside when the process server arrived.
"Jayson doesn’t sit around cleaning guns and he certainly doesn't drink beer out of a glass, just as much as he doesn’t drink Bud Light," Boebert tweeted, likely referencing a recent boycott of the the popular Anheuser-Busch brand initiated by some who became upset when it partnered with a transgender influencer.
She also challenged the sensational way some news outlets characterized the process server's assertion that Jayson Boebert "put the dogs out."
"Our own home security footage shows he didn’t 'sick [sic] dogs' on the process server," Boebert said. "The dogs were outside when the server pulled up, they never showed aggression toward him, nor did he appear afraid of them."
"Our divorce is a private matter, but the misrepresentations must be addressed," she added. "Jayson deserves his privacy, not slanderous stories."
She concluded the tweet with an invitation for her follower's "thoughts, and fervent, heartfelt prayers for our family."
Jayson Boebert told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that he had been upset when the process server showed up, but denied using profanity and emphasized that his dogs weren't a threat.
“I did not know what I was being served for or if it was some crazy left wing person coming to my house again,” he told the online news site.
He also denied that he'd been drinking or cleaning "any gun."
"The divorce is sad, I did not expect this, I love her with every bit of my heart, she has been my soul mate and she is the mother of my Children," he said, adding that he "just want[s] her to be happy."
An outspoken Second Amendment advocate and avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, Boebert is serving her second term in the House representing Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, which covers most of the Western Slope and parts of Southern Colorado, including Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley.
She first won election in 2020 after defeating a five-term Republican incumbent in a primary and won reelection last fall by a narrow margin.
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