Washington DC - President Donald Trump is reportedly putting pressure on Congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace to back off their efforts to force a release of the files on notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

According to The New York Times, Boebert was called in to the Situation Room at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with top Justice Department and FBI officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Axios reports that the group tried and failed to convince Boebert to withdraw her support for a petition led by Democrat Representative Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie that would force the House to vote on the release of the files.

During a press briefing that same day, White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the meeting, noting the "level of transparency" she has given, while refusing to give any details on the conversation.

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Although the president was not at the meeting, he did reportedly speak with Boebert in a phone call on Tuesday and has been trying to call Mace, but has yet to reach her.

Now that Congress has returned to session following the lengthy shutdown, Reps. Khanna and Massie's petition may have enough signatures to move forward – but if any of the few Republicans supporting the measure back down, it will fall through.

This pressure campaign comes as Trump and his administration continue to face heavy backlash over their refusal to release the files, despite repeatedly promising to do so. Critics have accused Trump – who was close friends with Epstein for decades, but has long denied any knowledge or involvement in his crimes – of trying to protect himself and other powerful and wealthy people who may be implicated by the files.

The scandal grew even worse for Trump on Wednesday after Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee released bombshell emails that Epstein sent while he was alive, which appear to reveal that Trump was aware of his crimes, and may even have been an active participant.

Shortly after the release of the emails, Trump shared a Truth Social post, writing, "The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they'll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the Shutdown."

"Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap," he added.