According to a report from NBC News, Botello claims that she wasn't driving at the time of the accident and that she had passed out in the passenger seat while holding the spider monkey. Botello told NBC that after the accident she "hopped over to the driver's seat", but didn't explain why.

In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint ex-Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his Director of National Intelligence, reports have resurfaced of her ties to a religious sect described as a “cult”—a connection that has the potential to throw her nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, into jeopardy.