Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) denied reports that her meeting at the White House on Wednesday was to pressure her to remove her name from a congressional petition that would necessitate a vote to release files related to disgraced financier, convicted sex offender, and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The petition, initially proposed by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) requires 218 signatures to approve the release of the files. Boebert was one of only four House Republicans to initially sign the petition, which included Massie, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). The Colorado congresswomen said the meeting was just adults having a conversation.
“I love the White House,” Boebert said to CPR News on Wednesday night. “Adults are allowed to have conversations.”
She explained that no one pressured her to make a decision, and the meeting on Wednesday was about transparency.
“I want to honor President Trump’s legacy of transparency,” Boebert said. “I was assured today that this is an administration who’s going to continue to be transparent and honest, and we’ll see what comes of it. But there was no pressure, and I mean, everybody was great and worked just well with me.”
Reports first circulated earlier this week that Boebert was meeting with Trump administration officials to persuade her to remove her name from the petition, so there would not be enough signatures to require the release of the Epstein files. During Wednesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was pressed about the meeting with Boebert. She pushed back against questions about Boebert’s meeting, claiming it was an act of transparency, as previously reported by the Washington Examiner.
“Doesn’t it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they please?” Leavitt responded when asked about the Boebert meeting. “Doesn’t that show our level of transparency? Doesn’t that show the level of transparency when we are willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns?”
WHITE HOUSE DANCES AROUND TRUMP OFFICIALS MEETING WITH LAUREN BOEBERT ON EPSTEIN FILES
Leavitt also said she wouldn’t go into detail about the contents of Boebert’s meeting at the White House.
“That’s a defining factor of transparency, having discussions, having discussions with members of Congress about various issues,” Leavitt added. “And I’m not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room in the press briefing room.”
