Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is bucking President Donald Trump and party leadership by backing a House effort to force the public release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, defying Trump’s call for Republicans to avoid engaging with the issue.
Speaking with reporters outside the Capitol on Wednesday, Boebert confirmed she will not remove her name from the discharge petition that would compel the Department of Justice to release information linked to the convicted sex offender. “I’m a co-sponsor of the bill,” she said. “I’ll force the vote.”
The Colorado Republican said she did not feel “marginalized” by standing firm, despite the Trump administration reaching out to her and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) about their support for the petition.
Boebert was reportedly called to the White House the same day, where Trump allegedly encouraged her to remove her name from the petition.
Boebert, Mace, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joined all House Democrats in signing the petition.
After newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) added the decisive signature, the petition reached the required 218 supporters, making it impossible for members to withdraw their names.
Q: Given you answers about transparency, why are WH officials meeting with Boebert in an effort to get her to not sign the Epstein files petition?
LEAVITT: Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress? pic.twitter.com/378Yyj053w
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 12, 2025
The move sets the stage for a House vote on whether to release the Epstein files.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced he plans to schedule that vote next week.
“As soon as the discharge petition received the 218th signature, we brought it up on unanimous consent,” Johnson said, accusing Democrats of blocking the motion.
“The Democrats shockingly opposed it. It was a staggering level of hypocrisy. Some later claimed they didn’t object, but they did, and that’s what happened on the floor.”
Johnson added that the full House will vote “as soon as we get back.”
Johnson called the discharge petition “superfluous and moot,” explaining that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is already investigating the Epstein matter.
“The Oversight Committee has been working around the clock, even through the government shutdown, for maximum transparency and full disclosure,” he commented.
Johnson noted that the committee had already examined Epstein estate files, calling them “a treasure trove,” and that additional subpoenas were forthcoming.
Earlier Wednesday, Democrats on the Oversight Committee released three emails between Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff.
The messages, dating from 2011 to 2019, included claims about Trump’s presence at Epstein’s home and his knowledge of “the girls.”
In one April 2011 email to Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump… [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75%there.”
Another email to Wolff in 2019 read: “[VICTIM] mara lago. [REDACTED]. trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”
The White House criticized Democrats for releasing redacted versions of the emails and accused them of misrepresenting the contents.
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Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the referenced victim was Virginia Giuffre, who died earlier this year and had publicly stated that Trump “was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever.”
Leavitt called the document release “a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” Leavitt said in a statement.
“The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her.”
Leavitt also reiterated that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago “decades ago for being a creep to his female employees.”
“These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments,” she said.
“Any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Later that afternoon, the committee released an additional 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate, which included correspondence describing a 2015 plan by Epstein to “let Donald Trump hang himself.”
In one email to New York Times journalist Thomas Landon Jr., Epstein wrote: “Would you like photos of Donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?”
In another email, Epstein mocked Trump’s behavior, claiming the future president “almost walked through the door leaving his nose print on the glass as young women were swimming in the pool.”
Trump responded to the reports in a Truth Social post, warning Republicans not to be drawn into what he called “the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”
“Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall for the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” he wrote. “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats.”
He continued, “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects.”
FINALLY! After Democrats voted to shut down for 43 days, President Trump has officially REOPENED THE GOVERNMENT! pic.twitter.com/E1lCVZyWoT
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) November 13, 2025
On Wednesday night, Trump signed a funding bill to end the 43-day shutdown after the House voted 222-209 to pass the legislation.
“It’s an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again,” he remarked.
