Colorado U.S. Rep Charges $250 for Videos

Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert broke new ground this weekend by becoming the first sitting member of Congress to offer personalized messages for sale — starting at $250 — through the Cameo video platform.

The Republican from Windsor, who won the election a new seat in Congress this month, after driving across the state, I opened the account on Saturday. The website allows customers to purchase personalized video messages from celebrities.

On Monday morning, Boebert advertised her messages starting at $250, although she stopped responding to requests at 10:45 a.m. MT.

“Whether you or someone you know needs an America-focused pep talk, if you want to surprise your friends or family with a message for a special day, or if you just want to know my thoughts on what you think, Cameo is the place to be. to connect,” Boebert says in an introductory video.

Brandon Kazimer, a spokesperson for Cameo, confirmed that the account belonged to Boebert. Boebert’s office declined to comment Monday.

Kazimer said she was the first sitting member of Congress to sign up for the service as a talent. At least two other former members of Congress, George Santos of New York and Matt Gaetz of Florida, have sold videos on the platform.

Santos joined Cameo shortly after he was expelled from Congress last year over allegations that he office operated for personal financial gain. Gaetz, who is a friend of Boebert, joins the service Friday, days after withdrawing his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump for U.S. attorney general following allegations that he had paid a teenage girl for sex.

Boebert does not appear to have advertised the service on his other social media accounts on X or Facebook. Congressional Rules will limit how much Boebert can earn from the videos. In 2023, members were limited to an outside income of $31,815 on top of their annual salary of $174,000.

She will have to declare all of Cameo’s income in her annual returns.

The law also prohibits people from using their public office to make outside money, said Kedric Payne, vice president and senior ethics director at the Campaign Legal Center. Ultimately, the restriction is intended to give voters confidence that elected officials are not using their public office for personal gain – or putting that gain ahead of their public service.

Boebert describes herself on Cameo as “not your typical Colorado Republican politician. Jesus loving, constitutionalist, America first, freedom fighter. An earlier version of her Cameo page listed Boebert as a politician and classified her as a political commentator, but it was updated to list her as an influencer.

Because she doesn’t use her title or appear to use other facets of her public work for the videos, such as filming in her congressional office, “this should allay any concerns that she is trying to use her public work for personal gain,” Payne said. said.

He added that limiting outside revenue also anticipates these kinds of problems by limiting members’ incentive to devote more effort to outside businesses than to their public service. But, he noted, people can cross that line quickly if it’s not clear whether they are acting in a public or private capacity.

Earned income subject to the annual cap is considered separate from passive income generated by things like stock market investments, Payne said, because it is actively generated through the sale of goods and services.

“We’ll be watching to see if this becomes a trend,” Payne said of Cameo’s side work. “If it’s just a one-off situation where someone does this for a month or so, that’s one thing – but if it becomes a trend, where members of Congress are trying to act as influencers and getting paid, this could indicate a bigger problem.”

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Originally published: November 25, 2024 at 2:14 p.m. MST