Trump’s veto of Colorado’s water bill officially cited fiscal concerns, but Lauren Boebert says a jailed political ally was the real reason

President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill meant to help finish Colorado’s Arkansas Valley Conduit project. The official veto message from the White House pointed to money problems, including the project’s rising costs and concerns about federal taxpayer spending.

But Rep. Lauren Boebert has given a different account of why the bill was vetoed. She said she was told the veto was linked to former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who remains in jail under Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ administration.

According to MediasTouch, Boebert made the comments while talking about the water bill, which she said Trump had promised to support as part of a campaign commitment to Colorado.

Boebert says she plans to keep pushing the bill forward

Boebert explained what she was told about the veto in her own words. “It was vetoed and I, we were told Tina Peters in jail, Jared Polis, you know, whatever the reason may be, nevertheless it was vetoed,” Boebert said.

She said she still intends to support the legislation despite the setback. Boebert said, “I said well I’m still going to fight to help the president keep his promise. He made this promise. He’s not a liar and we’re going to help keep this and so I’m still moving that legislation and it’s going to get over the finish line one way or another.”

The Arkansas Valley Conduit project is a long-planned water pipeline system meant to bring clean drinking water to communities in southeastern Colorado. Boebert said this project was something Trump had promised to help complete during his campaign.

Trump’s official veto message did not mention Tina Peters at all. Instead, it focused on financial issues. The message cited the project’s increasing costs, a rise in federal taxpayer obligations, and opposition to extending repayment terms and lowering interest rates for local communities involved in the project.

Boebert’s account offers a different explanation than the one the White House gave publicly. However, she was careful to frame her comments as something she had been told, rather than something she heard directly from Trump himself. This is not the first tense moment between Boebert and Trump, as he previously threatened to pull his endorsement over her support for another Republican lawmaker.

Tina Peters is a former county clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, who is currently serving time in jail. Her case has been tied to election-related issues in the state, and she has become a notable figure among some Trump supporters. Her imprisonment under the Polis administration has drawn criticism from her supporters, including reportedly Trump himself, according to Boebert’s account.

If Boebert’s account is accurate, it would mean the veto was connected to a political dispute between Trump and Governor Polis, rather than the financial reasons stated in the official veto message. The report notes that this would mean Colorado was affected by a disagreement between the two political figures.

The gap between the public reasoning and Boebert’s private account raises questions about the true motivation behind the veto, though no direct confirmation from Trump has been reported linking the veto to Peters’ imprisonment. Questions about whether funding decisions are driven by politics have come up elsewhere in the administration, including after officials admitted grant cancellations targeted blue states in a separate case involving federal energy funding.