Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert denied reports that her meeting at the White House on Wednesday was to pressure the Republican 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, filed by Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, required 218 signatures to force House GOP leadership to schedule a vote to compel the release of an estimated 100,000 files held by the federal government in the Epstein case.

While every Democrat in the House signed the petition, Boebert was one of only four House Republicans to add their names, along with Massie and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

The Colorado congresswomen said Wednesday’s meeting — held in the White House Situation Room, with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly in attendance — 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 maintained that no one pressured her to make a decision, adding that 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.”

On the same day Boebert met at the White House, House Speaker Mike Johnson swore in Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who was elected to replace her late father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva, in a special election on Sept. 23. Grijalva almost immediately added her name to the petition, providing the 218th name — making for a majority of the House’s 435 members and kicking the rarely used mechanism into motion.

Johnson, who opposed the petition, said he plans to hold a vote on Massie’s and Khanna’s bill next week, when it’s expected to pass the House. It would still need to clear the Republican-controlled Senate and be signed into law by the president, making its ultimate fate uncertain.

Boebert said in a statement posted to social media Wednesday that she was grateful the meeting took place, though she didn’t elaborate on the substance of the discussion.

“I want to thank White House officials for meeting with me today,” she said on X. “Together, we remain committed to ensuring transparency for the American people.”

Reports first circulated earlier this week that Boebert had been summoned by Trump administration officials to persuade her to remove her name from the petition, leaving the document without enough signatures to force a vote on the House floor.

Under House rules, however, once a discharge petition reaches 218 signatures, the list of names is “frozen,” and members may no longer add or remove their names from it.

During Wednesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt 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?”

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.”