Is Hillary Clinton Hiding Something? Lauren Boebert Defends Benny Johnson's 'Unauthorised' Photo Leak

Hillary Clinton's closed-door deposition in the US Congress investigation into Jeffrey Epstein was briefly paused in Chappaqua, New York, on Thursday after a photograph from inside the room appeared online, with right-wing influencer Benny Johnson claiming it was provided by Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert.​

The deposition went off the record while Clinton's team tried to work out how it happened and whether House rules were breached. Lauren Boebert defended the influencer's decision to share it, without confirming she sent it.​

Lauren Boebert And The Photo That Stopped The Deposition

The photograph showed Clinton answering questions, and it was posted by Benny Johnson, described as a right-wing podcaster, after Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado shared it, according to the report. Clinton's attorneys asked to pause the proceedings as soon as they learned an image had been leaked, pointing to the closed door nature of the session and the fact Clinton had been denied her request for a public hearing. The interruption lasted about half an hour before the deposition resumed.​

The New York Times report described an eruption and said Clinton's lawyers vociferously objected, a reminder that even in the clipped world of depositions, theatre has a way of forcing itself in. A closed-door deposition is supposed to be the dull, disciplined part of oversight, where staff and members try to nail down facts without cameras and slogans. Leaking a photo is the opposite of dull, and it looks, frankly, like a bid to make Clinton the headline again.​

The irony is that Clinton had tried to push this in the other direction. She wanted a public hearing, the report said, and the chairman refused, so she arrived in a private setting and still ended up being turned into content.​

Hillary Clinton's Defiant Opening Statement

The pause came after Clinton delivered what was described as a defiant opening statement, in which she accused House Republicans of forcing her participation and using her as a prop in 'partisan political theater.'

'You have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump's actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers,' she said, according to a copy of her statement provided in advance.​

She pressed the committee on what she sees as selective curiosity. Clinton noted that not a single Republican had attended a closed door deposition last week in Ohio with Leslie Wexner, described as a retail billionaire and prolific donor to Republican candidates, who appeared prominently in the Epstein files.

Democrats on the committee offered their own version of the same critique, some with more restraint than others. Representative Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat of Virginia, said the first hour before the interruption had been an embarrassment to Republicans because it produced nothing of significance. He said Clinton seemed puzzled about why she was there, and he sounded almost bored by the emptiness of the exercise, saying he was trying to figure out what else to ask her because 'she doesn't know much.'

Republicans, meanwhile, were reported to have grilled Clinton about Epstein's involvement in raising money for the Clinton Global Initiative. Clinton reportedly told the committee she had not been involved, noting that she was serving as a senator during the years when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was starting his foundation.​

Clinton also used her opening comments to restate a point that has become central to her defence. She said she had never met Epstein and knew nothing of his criminal activities, and her prepared statement included, 'I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein.'

'I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that,' she added, according to the same prepared text. Epstein died in prison in 2019.​

Hillary Clinton, Lauren Boebert And A Committee Looking For A Story

Before the deposition, Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman, appeared defensive about why the panel was investigating Clinton, the report said. Comer noted that Democrats on the committee had voted to hold both Clintons in contempt of Congress if they did not appear to testify. He also repeated his claim that Clinton was of interest because Ghislaine Maxwell, described as a longtime companion of Epstein, attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding.​

Subramanyam offered a sharper dose of reality, saying Maxwell was 'a guest of a guest at the wedding' and that Clinton 'didn't really know or talk to her in any way.' Another Democrat, Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia, was even blunter, saying there was 'no indication' and then 'zero, zip, zilch, nada' that Clinton had any knowledge of Epstein's crimes, and warning that the day looked like a political exercise.​

Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify on Friday.​