Rep. Lauren Boebert Asks Jewish Visitors About 'Reconnaissance' in Latest Capitol Elevator Encounter

Rep. Lauren Boebert had another awkward elevator encounter at the U.S. Capitol.

This time, the Colorado Republican ran into a group of Jewish visitors who were there to see New York Rep. Tom Suozzi on the anniversary of the end of the Iran hostage crisis 41 years ago, according to BuzzFeed News.

Some wore yarmulkes and the organizer of the visit is reportedly Orthodox and has a traditional beard.

When their elevator arrived and its doors opened, Boebert emerged. A witness said she looked over the visitors "from head to toe" and then asked if they were there to do "reconnaissance."

"When I heard that, I actually turned to the person standing next to me and asked, 'Did you just hear that?'" a rabbi among the visitors told BuzzFeed. The rabbi mentioned a recent hostage situation at a synagogue in Texas and added that "people are very sensitive now."

"I'm not sure to be offended or not," the rabbi also said.

Boebert confirmed the encounter but told BuzzFeed News her comments were not serious.

"I saw a large group and made a joke. Sadly when Democrats see the same they demonize my family for a year straight," Boebert said, adding that she's "too short to see anyone's yarmulkes."

Some Democratic lawmakers have accused Republican colleagues of leading groups on tours of the Capitol before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky claimed they spotted Boebert with a group of visitors in a tunnel in the Capitol complex three days before the riots.

"Whether these people were people that were involved in the insurrection or not, I do not know," Cohen told CNN a year ago.

Boebert flatly denied the accusation. "I have never given a tour of the U.S. Capitol to any outside group," she said in a statement at the time. "As I previously stated, I brought my family to the Capitol on January 2nd for a tour and on the 3rd for pictures to commemorate the day I was sworn in as a Member of the U.S. Congress."

The lawmaker's freshman term has been checkered with controversy. A provocative conservative in the mold of former President Trump, Boebert feuded last year with Rep. Ilhan Omar after Boebert told a story of running into the Muslim lawmaker in an elevator.

"I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar," Boebert told supporters at an event in Colorado. "And I said, 'Well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine.'"