The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed on Wednesday that a meeting took place involving GOP Representative Lauren Boebert. This meeting, reportedly held with administration officials, was in response to Boebert’s ongoing concerns.
In a press briefing, Leavitt highlighted the administration’s commitment to transparency, stating, “Isn’t it a testament to our openness that we’re willing to engage with members of Congress and discuss their issues?”
However, Leavitt refrained from providing specifics about the discussions, saying, “I won’t be detailing conversations that occurred within the Situation Room.”
An insider revealed that the meeting in the Situation Room included Boebert, who has been actively pushing for the Justice Department to disclose its collection of Epstein files. She has also joined efforts in the House aimed at compelling a vote for their release.
Despite the discussion at the White House, sources familiar with the meeting indicated that Boebert is not expected to withdraw her support from the petition seeking a vote on the matter.
Attempts to reach Boebert for further comment were made by CNN. She expressed her gratitude on social media platform X, saying, “I appreciate the White House officials for meeting with me today. We are united in our commitment to transparency for the American public.”
Separately, President Donald Trump and Rep. Nancy Mace, another Republican who’s signed the petition, have been playing phone tag. The South Carolina Republican previously told CNN’s Manu Raju that rumours that she was planning to remove her name from the petition were untrue.
Both the meeting and Trump’s efforts to talk to Mace underscore the administration’s concerns around the Epstein saga, which roared back Wednesday morning when the House Oversight Committee released more documents it had obtained from Epstein’s estate. (Leavitt said Wednesday the emails from that trove that mention Trump “prove absolutely nothing.”)
Besides Boebert and Mace, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the other Republican who’s signed onto the petition from Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, to force the vote on the release of the files on the House floor. The pair is set to receive the 218th decisive signature from Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva on Wednesday afternoon, allowing the push to force a vote to move forward.
Should anyone remove their name from the petition, Massie and Khanna would no longer have the support needed to move forward.
Boebert had previously told CNN’s Raju in September that she wouldn’t be removing her name and wasn’t getting pressure from the White House.
Under the arcane procedure of a House discharge petition, if 218 members of the House â a majority of all 435 districts â sign on, they can force a floor vote in the chamber on anything â even if leadership opposes it. Such an effort rarely succeeds.
The unreleased Justice Department files, which capture years of investigation into child sex trafficking, could include details the House hasn’t obtained.
Ahead of the White House meeting, one source said it would also include Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment, and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bondi was seen leaving the White House on Wednesday.
The controversy around Epstein and his contacts with other powerful people, including Trump, has divided the Republican Party in recent months, with Boebert being among the Republican House members publicly pushing for more transparency around the case.
Trump hasn’t been accused of any crime, and longtime Epstein contact and convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell previously told Blanche in an interview this summer that she had seen no wrongdoing, including by Trump.
At least two women who say they are survivors of Epstein’s abuse were expected to attend Grijalva’s swearing-in ceremony Wednesday afternoon, sources with knowledge tell CNN.
