TLDR
Lauren Boebert was one of only four Republicans who signed the discharge petition forcing H.R. 4405 to the House floor, and she refused to remove her name despite direct pressure from White House officials and FBI Director Kash Patel.
One of Four
Rep. Lauren Boebert represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District and has served in Congress since 2021. A former restaurant owner, Boebert serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Her office is located at 1713 Longworth House Office Building, phone (202) 225-4761 (U.S. House of Representatives, 2026).
When Thomas Massie filed the discharge petition (H.Res. 581) to force the Epstein Files Transparency Act to a floor vote, the procedural math required 218 signatures from a House of 435. Democrats provided 214. That left a gap of four that had to come from Republicans willing to publicly defy their own party's leadership. Boebert was one of those four, alongside Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Nancy Mace (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026).
Pressure to Remove Her Name
What distinguishes Boebert's signature from a routine procedural vote is what happened after she signed. FBI Director Kash Patel and White House officials directly pressured Boebert to remove her name from the discharge petition (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026). A discharge petition signature can be withdrawn at any time before the threshold is reached — and removing even one Republican signature below 218 would have killed the petition, since Democrats had only 214 of the required 218.
Boebert refused. She kept her name on the petition, and on November 12, 2025, it reached 218 signatures. The bill went to the floor, passed 427-1, and was signed into law as P.L. 119-38 on November 19, 2025 (Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38, 2025).
The pressure campaign itself is significant. The FBI Director — the head of the agency with custody of Epstein investigative files — was personally lobbying a member of Congress to prevent a transparency law from reaching a vote. This means the agency responsible for the files was actively working to block their disclosure through political channels (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026).
Oversight Committee Access
As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Boebert has access to the DOJ annex review station where members can view unredacted Epstein files. The review conditions are restrictive — four computers, 9 AM to 6 PM weekdays, no staff permitted, and DOJ tracks which members search which names — but the access exists (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026).
This dual positioning matters: Boebert both forced the law into existence through her discharge petition signature and holds committee membership that provides access to the files the law was designed to release.
What Eastern Colorado Constituents Should Know
CO-4 voters elected Lauren Boebert as someone willing to challenge institutional authority. On the Epstein files, she did exactly that — signing a discharge petition against her own party's committee leadership, then refusing to withdraw her signature when the FBI Director and White House officials pressured her directly. The Epstein Files Transparency Act exists as law in part because Boebert held her ground. H.R. 4405 passed 427-1, meaning 423 other members who voted yes were unwilling to take the procedural step that made the vote possible. Constituents in Greeley, Sterling, Burlington, and across the 4th District should know that their representative was one of four Republicans who took that step — and that the FBI Director personally tried to stop her.
The law Boebert helped force to the floor compelled release of footage showing 278 guard gaps at MCC. Fellow petition signers Rep. Massie and Rep. Mace have also pushed for full disclosure.
References
Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38 (2025). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4405
PAPER TRAIL Project. (2026). Congressional oversight actions, March 2026 [Data set].
PAPER TRAIL Project. (2026). Discharge petition H.Res. 581 analysis [Data set].
U.S. House of Representatives. (2026). Member directory [Data set].
This investigation is part of the SubThesis accountability journalism network.