Former MAGA mouthpiece Lauren Boebert complained of “political retaliation” after President Donald Trump blocked a significant piece of infrastructure in her state in apparent revenge for her role in the release of the Epstein files.
On Tuesday, Trump, 79, vetoed the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act—which would have kept on track a long-delayed clean-water pipeline serving 50,000 people—killing a bipartisan measure that had cleared the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent.
The president framed the conduit financing as an unacceptable “taxpayer handout,” arguing the federal government shouldn’t be on the hook for what he called “expensive and unreliable policies.”
This was despite the Congressional Budget Office estimating that the legislation would cost the federal government less than $500,000, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation describing the conduit as a “major infrastructure project” that will supply reliable water to 39 communities.
In response, Colorado Rep. Boebert, 39, did not mince her words, calling the bill “completely non-controversial” and suggesting Trump’s decision could be political.
In comments that are likely to generate blowback from her famously vengeful leader, Boebert said, “I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability.”
She added: “Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics.”
Boebert was among a tiny band of MAGA House members who defied White House pressure and pushed to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act—triggering angry calls and a failed closed-door push by Trump’s team to get them to stand down.
She isn’t the only pro-Trump firebrand alleging blowback, as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to dog the president’s second term.
And if the example of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is anything to go by, the matter will not end here for Boebert.
Taylor Greene, 51, is another MAGA leader who broke with Trump over the Epstein fight and has publicly complained about retaliation and pressure campaigns aimed at rebels as the GOP tried to contain the fallout.
Bobert, though, seems to be prepared, posting on X Tuesday night: “This isn’t over.” And nor is the Epstein saga.
After MAGA lawmakers backed a discharge petition and Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the DOJ began releasing records on Dec. 19.
The releases have drawn blowback for heavy redactions, with Democrats and watchdogs alleging the department removed or obscured material that references Trump, who had a long-standing friendship with the late pedophile financier.
DOJ officials say hundreds of thousands more records are in the pipeline, keeping the story alive. Trump denies any wrongdoing in relation to the convicted sex offender.
Away from Epstein, Boebert and Greene are among a small but growing set of once-reliable MAGA allies now openly breaking from Trump, despite the possibility of retaliation from a president who still dominates the party.
Back in Colorado, officials and co-sponsors backed Boebert. Sen. Michael Bennet called Trump’s veto “a revenge tour,” while Sen. John Hickenlooper urged Congress to overturn it.
Rep. Jeff Hurd said more than $200 million has already been invested and warned further delays could strand taxpayer dollars as communities remain stuck without a path to meet drinking water standards.
The bill would have removed interest and stretched repayments to 100 years for local communities’ share of the Arkansas Valley Conduit—a 130-mile pipeline intended to deliver water from Pueblo Reservoir to dozens of communities along the Arkansas River—after decades of delay.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Boebert for comment.
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