MUST SEE — Hillary Clinton Hearing on Epstein HALTS After Brutal Photo Leaks
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee was briefly suspended Thursday after a photograph taken during her testimony was leaked to a conservative media figure, triggering a dispute between lawmakers over committee procedure.
The image, captured while Clinton was seated mid-testimony in the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, was provided to podcast host Benny Johnson by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). After the photo circulated publicly, Clinton’s attorneys halted the proceedings and she exited the room.
According to MSNOW, Clinton later returned and engaged in a tense exchange with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) before questioning resumed. The deposition continued behind closed doors.
Clinton addressed reporters during an impromptu press conference, issuing a categorical denial of any association with Epstein.
“I did not know Jeffrey Epstein! I never went to his island. I never went to his home. I never went to his offices,” she said.
Her legal team accused Boebert of violating House rules by taking and releasing the photograph during a closed-door session. Clinton also asserted that committee guidelines had been breached.
Democrats on the committee echoed those concerns during a break in the deposition.
“What is not acceptable is Oversight Republicans breaking their own committee rules that they established with the Secretary and her team,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said at a press conference.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) criticized the tone and conduct of the proceedings, stating, “We are sitting through an incredibly unserious clown show of a deposition where members of Congress and the Republican Party are more concerned about getting their photo op of Secretary Clinton than actually getting to the truth and holding anyone accountable.”
The deposition forms part of the committee’s broader inquiry into matters connected to Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019. Congressional interest in Epstein’s network and potential ties to prominent individuals has persisted in the years since his death, with lawmakers seeking additional disclosures and documentation.
Details of Clinton’s testimony beyond her public denial were not released Thursday, and no transcript was made available. The committee has not publicly outlined the specific rules governing photography during closed-door depositions, nor indicated whether it will pursue formal action related to the leak.
Boebert responded to criticism from Democrats and Clinton’s attorneys on social media, referencing the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
“No U.S. ambassadors were harmed in the taking of today’s photo,” she wrote.
The comment alluded to the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi. Three other Americans also died in the assault. The incident prompted multiple congressional investigations during Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State and remained a central political issue throughout her subsequent presidential campaign.
Thursday’s developments underscored the heightened partisan tensions surrounding the Oversight Committee’s work. Under Republican leadership, the panel has pursued a series of investigations involving high-profile political figures and federal agencies. Clinton’s deposition marked one of the most closely watched sessions tied to its ongoing review of Epstein-related matters.
Clinton’s decision to speak publicly following the interruption signaled the seriousness with which her team viewed the photograph’s release. While Democrats characterized the incident as a procedural violation, Republicans did not immediately issue a formal committee statement detailing their position on the alleged breach.
Chairman Comer has previously defended the committee’s investigative authority in high-profile inquiries, emphasizing its oversight responsibilities. His exchange with Clinton after she returned to the deposition room was described as a sparring moment, though no specific remarks from that exchange were disclosed publicly.
The leak also drew attention to the role of outside media figures in covering congressional investigations. The photograph’s distribution to Johnson, a conservative podcast host, ensured rapid circulation on social media platforms, amplifying the episode beyond the confines of the closed-door session.
As of Thursday evening, it remained unclear whether additional images were taken or released, or whether the committee would modify its procedures in response to the incident. Lawmakers did not announce any changes to future deposition protocols.
Top DHS Special Agent And His Wife Found Dead
A Department of Homeland Security special agent and his wife were found dead in their New Jersey home in what appears to be a murder-suicide, prosecutors said.
Police in Sayreville responded to the couple’s home on Glynn Court around 8 p.m. July 3 and found Kelly Latauro, 46, dead inside the residence, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Her husband, 52-year-old Christopher Latauro, was discovered dead in the backyard.
Both appear to have been shot.
Authorities said Christopher is believed to be the shooter and the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
Police told residents to keep away from Glynn Court, from Deerfield Road to Scarlet Drive, briefly because of police activity.
The area was reopened about 40 minutes later, but police remained on scene.
According to NJ101.5, citing DHS records from 2019 and 2020, Christopher was a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security.
Authorities have not said what may have sparked the violence.
Kelly’s sister-in-law Robyn Perlman-Spencer confirmed her death in a Facebook post on July 7, remembering her in a heartbreaking tribute.
“As many of you may now know, my beautiful sister in law Kelly Iatauro was senselessly and suddenly taken from us on Friday. Kelly was a bright light- kind, thoughtful, hysterical, inappropriate, and just one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. She left a lasting impression on anyone that was lucky enough to know her,” Robyn wrote in part.
Sayreville police confirmed officers responded to the Glynn Court residence on July 3 and found both people dead of gunshot wounds.
The incident is being treated as a murder-suicide, and Christopher is suspected to be the shooter, the spokesperson said.
The Department of Homeland Security and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on the case.
What began as a heavy police response to a deadly scene left two people dead and the quiet Middlesex County neighborhood stunned.
Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened inside the home leading up to the gunfire.
Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made headlines last week with an election-related announcement.
Mullin on Friday said officials who don’t cooperate with the administration’s election security efforts may be slapped with fines — and potentially prison time.
“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections — and they chose not to — then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time,” Mullin said during a press conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Mullin also promised DHS would work to “speed up our security enhancements” for states.
He vowed to hold up federal election security grants until state officials took steps the administration demanded, including running their voter registration lists through a system that checks for non-citizen voters on the rolls.
Mullin made his comments after President Donald Trump’s primetime address on election security Thursday night, when he repeated already known concerns about the security of voting systems, alleged Chinese efforts to get into voter rolls, and aired old gripes about the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
In his remarks on Friday, the DHS secretary focused on DHS’s work with states to secure election systems and scrub voter registration rolls for fraud and concerns about noncitizen voting.
The Justice Department also sent letters this month threatening prosecution to election officials across the country if they don’t remove noncitizens from their voter rolls.
On Friday, Mullin seemed to suggest that the agency was able to estimate the numbers using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and said 23 states are already working with DHS to analyze voter rolls.
And he criticized the legal challenges that are hindering the administration’s efforts: Last month, a judge blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of information about Americans, including Social Security numbers and citizenship status.
