Lauren Boebert defends photo leak from Hillary Clinton deposition. ‘Why not?’

Rep. Lauren Boebert is defending her decision to leak photos of Hillary Clinton’s closed-door deposition to the House Oversight Committee about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which briefly halted the proceedings.

Conservative YouTuber Benny Johnson posted a grainy photo of Clinton to X, formerly Twitter, around noon on Thursday, Feb. 26, saying it was “the first image of Hillary Clinton testifying under oath” about Epstein to the committee. Johnson credited Boebert, R-Colorado, with providing the image, later sharing an additional photo that featured Boebert’s nameplate in the foreground.

The leak stopped the deposition briefly, with Clinton later telling reporters in a press conference that evening that it was temporarily paused “until we could get assurances that no rules would be broken going forward,” as taking and sharing photos from within the proceedings is against committee regulations. “One of the members violated that rule, which was very upsetting, because it suggested that they might violate other of our agreements,” she said.

Boebert shared another post by Johnson on X, saying he did “nothing wrong” and that the meeting had resumed after the disruption.

Boebert: ‘I really admire her blue suit’

According to videos posted online, when asked by reporters while leaving the deposition in Chappaqua, New York, why she leaked the photo, Boebert responded, “Why not?”

“I really admire her blue suit, so I wanted to capture that for everyone,” she added with a smirk, the clips show.

She later told reporters outside of the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center that she had returned to her hotel room and installed “the BleachBit software,” a program that deletes and cleans digital files, and “took a hammer to her iPad.”

“So I guess in regards to any photos, I do not recall,” she said in a video seen by USA TODAY.

Later, she shared another post on X poking fun at the situation, saying, “No U.S. Ambassadors were harmed in the taking of today’s photo.”

Garcia: ‘Not acceptable’ to break committee rules

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California, admonished Boebert when speaking to the press during a break in the proceedings.

“What is not acceptable is Oversight Republicans breaking their own committee rules that they established with the secretary and her team,” he told reporters. “It was gracious of the secretary and her team to continue the deposition.”

In an online video, Boebert also told reporters outside the deposition that she did not receive any formal reprimand for the leak.

Clintons called to testify on Epstein

Clinton stood before the committee on Thursday, Feb. 26, after she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, were subpoenaed by House lawmakers. House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) said earlier this month that the couple would be questioned about their inclusion in the Epstein files, including records of Epstein raising money for the Clintons’ foundation and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, attending their daughter’s wedding.

The Clintons agreed to appear in person after the Republican-led House moved toward a vote to hold them in contempt of Congress. Hillary and Bill, who will provide his deposition on Friday, Feb. 27, previously called for a public hearing. Both depositions ended up behind closed doors, though they will be transcribed, filmed and eventually released.

The committee’s rules do not allow outside parties to take photos or videos of proceedings and the recordings were meant to be reviewed by Clinton’s lawyers before release, Comer previously said.

The congressional inquiry comes after lawmakers and women who accused Epstein of abuse forced the Justice Department to release 3 million pages of documents from his criminal investigation. But millions more pages remain sealed, including some allegedly mentioning President Donald Trump, who has said the country should move on.

Bill Clinton appeared in a host of photos released with the files, posing with figures including Epstein, Maxwell, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.

In her deposition, Hillary Clinton denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, calling grilling from GOP lawmakers “a fishing expedition.”

The Clinton Foundation and Boebert’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

This story was updated with new information.

Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lauren Boebert defends photo leak from Hillary Clinton deposition