The scene unfolded as Hillary Clinton abruptly exited a Jeffrey Epstein deposition, incensed after learning a Republican official had covertly snapped her photo in violation of the rules.

“That’s it, I’m leaving,” Clinton declared, reacting to her attorney’s notification that the unauthorized image was circulating online.

“If you’re going to do this, I’m finished. You can hold me in contempt until the end of time. This is just typical,” Clinton exclaimed.

Representative Lauren Boebert, a Republican, admitted to taking the photo prior to the session’s commencement, assuring Clinton she would remove it, stating, “I’ll take it down.”

Clinton, visibly exasperated, retorted, “It doesn’t matter; we’re all supposed to follow the same rules,” while forcefully tapping the table and gesturing towards Boebert.

In a decisive move, the former Secretary of State rose from her seat and marched out, prompting the cameras to be swiftly shut off. Proceedings resumed about an hour later.

Breach of rules 

Committee chairman James Comer acknowledged Boebert had breached committee rules, telling the hearing: ‘I’ve advised my members that no photos or videos during the deposition can be released.’

He argued the image was taken before proceedings formally began, though Hillary’s lawyer rejected that defense outright, noting she had already taken her seat inside the closed room.

Comer then went on the offensive, saying he was ‘disappointed that the secretary’s opening statement was leaked to the press before she even gave her opening statement.’

Her legal team pushed back immediately, insisting the statement ‘was not leaked to the press’ and had been shared in advance in the same manner as other witnesses, including Epstein’s longtime associate, Lex Wexner, the Victoria’s Secret founder.

It is strictly prohibited for lawmakers or witnesses to take pictures inside a closed-door congressional testimony.

Setting a precedent 

The House Oversight Committee released the deposition video on Monday, days after Hillary’s testimony last Thursday.

She and Bill Clinton were summoned to a performing arts center near their Chappaqua, New York home to answer questions about their ties to Epstein.

It was the first time in US history that Congress had deposed a former or sitting president. 

Democrats have since demanded Donald Trump testify given the new precedent, though Bill Clinton refused to be drawn into the debate.

‘That’s for you to decide, but [Trump] did know him well, and I once had a brief discussion with him about it,’ Clinton, 79, told Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia at his testimony on Friday.  

Clinton volunteered a clarification unprompted after Garcia failed to follow up. 

‘I hate this,’ Clinton declared after the long pause. 

‘But since there was no follow-up question, he’s never, the president, never, this is 20-something years ago, never said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper.’

Clinton deflects Epstein questions to her husband 

Clinton was grilled by lawmakers after photos in the newly released Epstein files showed him swimming with Maxwell and lounging in a hot tub with an unidentified woman.

Asked about others in the hot tub, Clinton said: ‘I don’t think there’s anybody in the hot tub. I don’t even – I had forgotten that there was anybody in the hot tub, but it was big.’ 

Clinton said the photo was taken at a hotel where his group was staying on a charitable foundation work trip, and that a Secret Service agent was present at the pool. 

The former president denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, stating: ‘There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women.’ 

Asked whether he felt that Epstein and Maxwell fooled powerful people, he responded: ‘I really don’t know. I’ve thought about it a lot, but if you can figure it out I’d like to know.’

Hillary told the committee repeatedly that she did not know Epstein and had met Maxwell only a handful of times, deflecting many questions toward her husband. 

‘I do not recall ever meeting Jeffrey Epstein,’ she told lawmakers under oath.

The $20,000 surprise 

Hillary said that ahead of the hearing she was informed that Epstein had attended an event organized by the White House Historical Association.

‘That’s the only time that I’m aware of that I might have possibly been in the same room with him,’ Hillary said. 

There is a photo of Epstein and Maxwell meeting Bill Clinton at a White House Historical Association event in 1993. 

‘We had hundreds and thousands of people who came to the White House. I was not informed of what people did or didn’t do for work, especially someone that I never even uh had a conversation with,’ she said.  

Hillary was grilled about receiving a $20,000 donation from the disgraced financier in 1999 when she was fundraising for the DNC. 

She said that she had been informed of this in preparation for her hearing, and the way that campaign donations were structured meant it was unlikely she would have been aware at the time. 

‘I don’t recall that I knew it at the time and I was you know surprised to learn it in preparation for testifying,’ Hillary told the committee.

Maxwell’s silent partner

Regarding Maxwell, Hillary said: ‘I knew her primarily as someone who dated someone that I knew.’

Maxwell attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in New York in 2010. The Clintons previously stated that she was there as a plus one. 

She told the committee that she had met Maxwell a few times but that she ‘didn’t see her very often.’

Hillary was also questioned about her husband’s relationship with the financier, including 17 flights on his private jet.

A photo released by the Justice Department last month showed Clinton with his arm around a young woman on the aircraft.

Hillary told lawmakers that she knew Bill traveled on ‘a number of different planes owned by a number of different people.’

She said she ‘did not recollect’ conversations about the flights, adding that Bill discussed only his charitable work on those trips.  

Epstein and Maxwell appear to have played a key role in setting up the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative, the Epstein files suggest. 

‘I don’t recall ever talking about Mr. Epstein. He was not on my radar. He was not somebody that I had any connection to,’ Hillary said.

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