Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., announced Wednesday that she will support a discharge petition requiring the Department of Justice to release information related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Boebert confirmed she intends to keep her name on the petition even after President Donald Trump urged Republicans not to engage with newly surfaced Epstein case documents that mention him.
“I’m a co-sponsor of the bill,” Boebert told reporters outside the Capitol. “I’ll force the vote.”
Earlier reports indicated that senior Trump officials had met with a key Republican lawmaker to discuss the proposed House vote on releasing the Justice Department’s Epstein files. The White House later confirmed that the lawmaker in question was Boebert.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that “only a very bad, or stupid Republican would fall for the Epstein story,” urging lawmakers to remain focused on reopening the country and addressing “the massive damage caused by the Democrats.”
The controversy over the Epstein documents has created tension among Trump supporters and conservative activists, many of whom expected renewed investigations into Epstein’s network under a second Trump administration.
Mixed signals from Republican officials and conservative media figures have fueled speculation that the full release of the Epstein files may never occur.
Boebert joins Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia in backing the petition to compel the DOJ to disclose the case records.
Separately, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was sworn in Wednesday by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
After delivering a floor speech, Grijalva signed a discharge petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, giving it the needed 218 signatures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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