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In a tense moment during a deposition, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her frustration and threatened to leave after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) allegedly shared a photo of her testifying before the House Oversight Committee. The committee was investigating matters related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Clinton’s attorney pointed out that the image had been circulated among conservative media, which visibly annoyed the former Secretary of State.
“I’m not going to tolerate this. If you’re engaging in such actions, I’m finished here. You can hold me in contempt for as long as you like. This is just typical behavior,” Clinton stated.
According to the rules, lawmakers are not allowed to disclose information from a closed-door deposition until official videos or transcripts are made available.
In the background of the footage, Boebert, though not visible, is heard claiming that she captured the photo before the official commencement of the deposition.
“It doesn’t matter. We all are abiding by the same rules,” Clinton fired back.
“I will take that down,” Boebert said, apparently acknowledging the rules.
Clinton and her husband initially resisted testifying, but later asked for a public hearing.
The session quickly went off the record, suspending video recording.
But at the return, Clinton’s attorney Cheryl Mills indicated that the Clinton team then pushed to allow reporters to enter the deposition room, though the request was denied.
“We find it unacceptable, we find it unprofessional and we find it unfair,” Mills said of the shared photo.
Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) can be heard saying that he admonished members and made clear that he found the behavior unacceptable.
“I’ve advised my members that no photos or videos during the deposition can be released. I understand the posted photo was taken before the deposition started. That will not happen again,” he said.
In an interview after the deposition, Boebert defended her actions to NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.
“There were Democrats and those at the minority party that were releasing information about the hearing throughout the day, topics that were discussed were being leaked to the media,” Boebert said. “And so there was a lot of things that were coming out of that room, but regardless, it was a photo.”
After the deposition had resumed, ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) also criticized the leak.
“It’s completely unacceptable that Oversight Republicans and its members in this moment chose to violate both committee rules and the agreement they negotiated directly with Secretary Clinton,” he said.
“Now, the Clintons requested a public hearing specifically to avoid this exact situation.”