U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, met with Trump administration officials in the White House situation room to discuss her decision to support a bill that would require the Justice Department to release all unclassified documents and communications related to Jeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficking operation.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday that the conversation took place as part of the administration’s efforts to get Boebert and at least one other Republican congresswoman to drop their backing of the measure and a related petition that would force a vote on the legislation.
The New York Times reports the situation room meeting happened Wednesday. The situation room is a secure part of the White House where the president and their top aides meet to discuss crises, including military action.
“I’m not going to detail conversations that took place in the situation room,” Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters.
Leavitt added: “Doesn’t it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they please? 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?”
Q: "Why are White House officials…meeting with Rep. Boebert in an effort to try to get her to not sign this petition calling for the release of the [Epstein] files?"
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) November 12, 2025
Leavitt: "Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of… pic.twitter.com/nRycLeyyYc
Boebert did not respond to a text message from The Colorado Sun on Wednesday seeking more information about the White House meeting or whether it changed her mind.
On social media, however, she posted Wednesday afternoon about the meeting.
“I want to thank White House officials for meeting with me today. Together, we remain committed to ensuring transparency for the American people,” she said.
I want to thank White House officials for meeting with me today.
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) November 12, 2025
Together, we remain committed to ensuring transparency for the American people🇺🇸
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, cosponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is supported by all Democrats in the U.S. House and three other Republicans – Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
Emails released Wednesday from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are likely to reignite interest in the issue. Epstein wrote in a 2011 email that President Donald Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a victim of sex trafficking and said in a separate message years later that Trump “knew about the girls.”
“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” Leavitt said in a statement.
Epstein killed himself in a federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Leavitt and Republicans on the oversight committee said the victim Trump spent time with was Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein of arranging her sexual encounters with a number of his rich and powerful friends. Giuffre, before she died this year, had long insisted that Trump was not among the men who had victimized her.
The White House meeting with Boebert also comes as Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona was sworn into office Wednesday more than seven weeks after winning a special election to fill the seat last held by her late father.
Grivala is expected to sign onto the petition forcing a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Grijalva has said she will join the petition from Massie after taking office, giving it the 218 signatures needed to require a vote on the bill.
Trump has been reaching out about Epstein to Boebert and Mace, according to a person familiar with the effort who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president has phoned Mace, who has returned the calls, but the two have not yet spoken. Trump made a call to Boebert, which the person described as “unsuccessful.”
Jesse Paul of The Colorado Sun contributed to this report. Joey Cappelletti, Matt Brown and Meg Kinnard of The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
