Deposition: Toby Refuses, Reveals Twins, Issues Quiet Threat
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Claypool asks Toby about his relationship with Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt and her pregnancy, which Toby refuses to confirm, citing privacy.
Toby asserts that Claypool must demonstrate relevancy when Claypool insists there's no right to privacy in a deposition.
Claypool accuses Toby and Andrea Wyatt of conceiving a baby out of wedlock, to which Toby reveals they are expecting twins.
Ron suggests adjourning the deposition due to Dulles closing, and Toby delivers a veiled threat about making his children part of the legal battle.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Purposeful neutrality—intention is to convey critical information without creating spectacle.
Enters the room briefly and discreetly hands Ron a folded note announcing Dulles is closing; the delivery halts the interrogation by providing a timely logistical pretext to pause proceedings.
- • Deliver urgent information to counsel quickly and without fanfare
- • Facilitate an operational pause that will affect scheduling and logistics
- • Timely delivery of logistical updates is necessary in fast-moving situations
- • Some disruptions are best communicated quietly to avoid escalation
Calmly pragmatic—focused on shielding his client and seizing a logistical out to halt further intrusion.
Acting as Toby's counsel, Ron objects to intrusive questioning, succinctly manages procedure, accepts a delivered note about Dulles, and uses it to propose pausing the deposition until after the holiday.
- • Prevent further invasive questioning of his client and preserve privacy
- • Use procedural or logistical reasons to terminate or postpone the deposition
- • Maintain control of the legal narrative surrounding his client
- • Procedural motions and external circumstances can and should be used strategically to protect clients
- • Direct answers are unnecessary when relevance hasn't been established
- • Timing and logistics can blunt adversarial momentum
Absent physically; inferred as determined and focused on disclosure through legal means.
Named aloud in the deposition title as the plaintiff bringing the suit; not physically present but driving the adversarial framing and the line of questioning.
- • Force disclosure of personal facts about Congresswoman Wyatt
- • Use litigation to achieve political or informational ends
- • Public interest justifies intrusive inquiry into elected officials
- • Legal process is the correct venue to demand disclosure
Authoritative and impatient—driving to elicit admissions that advance the lawsuit's narrative.
Leads the deposition from across the table, pressing Toby for relationship details and a pregnancy confirmation, asserting relevancy and leaning into the adversarial thrust of the plaintiffs' case.
- • Secure factual confirmation of pregnancy and paternity to support plaintiff claims
- • Demonstrate a pattern or conspiracy by extracting specific personal details
- • Undermine credibility or concealment by forcing direct answers
- • Depositions are tools to compel truth; privacy objections are secondary to relevance
- • Public officials and those close to them must be held accountable to constituents
- • Concrete admissions will strengthen the legal and public case
Restrained composure masking a simmering protectiveness and mild threat: outwardly calm, inwardly prepared to defend family boundaries.
Seated at the deposition table with his lawyer, Toby states his name and DOB, refuses to confirm Wyatt's pregnancy on privacy grounds, corrects that 'there are two babies,' and closes with an oblique, protective warning about involving his children.
- • Protect his ex-wife's and his children's privacy from legal and public exposure
- • Avoid giving testimony that would provide relevance to the plaintiffs' conspiracy theory
- • Use minimal, legally cautious answers to prevent escalation
- • Personal and family matters remain private even under deposition unless relevancy is shown
- • Exposing children would be harmful and is an improper weapon in political disputes
- • Legal procedure can be pushed back against with objections and factual restraint
Detached and focused—emotionally neutral, concentrating on accurate recording of testimony and objections.
Sits as the official court reporter, transcribing the deposition verbatim and anchoring the encounter as an official, recordable legal proceeding.
- • Produce an accurate, complete transcript of everything said during the deposition
- • Maintain impartiality and procedural credibility
- • Ensure no utterance is omitted that might later matter legally
- • The integrity of the legal record is paramount
- • Her role is neutral and must not influence proceedings
- • Complete transcription can determine later legal outcomes
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A folded note announcing Dulles Airport's closure is handed to Ron mid-deposition. It functions as a narrative interrupter—providing a legitimate logistical reason to pause the hearing and relieve immediate pressure on Toby while connecting the small legal scene to larger external crises.
The deposition table frames the physical choreography: Toby and Ron sit on one side, Claypool across, with the court reporter nearby. It concentrates the encounter, making glances, small gestures, and verbal sparring immediately legible and binding in the official record.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Dulles Airport is not physically present but its announced closure intrudes on the deposition, creating a logistical constraint that permits counsel to pause proceedings and connects the private legal fight to broader operational disruptions in the region.
The Freedom Watch office provides the neutral, slightly intimate venue for the deposition; its small scale and NGO identity sharpen the sense of civic scrutiny. The room contains the deposition table, reporter, counsel, and questioner, making private lives legible under institutional procedures.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Freedom Watch hosts the deposition at its offices and thereby lends institutional legitimacy and a public-interest framing to the plaintiffs' inquiry. Its space and mission allow private relationships to be interrogated under the banner of transparency.
The U.S. District Court provides the legal framework and jurisdictional legitimacy for the deposition; its mention in the opening formalizes the encounter's authority and the enforceability of subpoenas and rules of procedure.
Alpha Reporting is present via Patricia Gold, supplying the official court-reporting service that documents every utterance, thereby converting spoken statements into an evidentiary record that can be used in court and the press.
Citizens for Full Disclosure functions as the plaintiff organization driving the deposition's line of inquiry—its presence in the case title and Claypool's questioning signals a mission to pry into alleged nondisclosure and hold elected officials accountable.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's initial confirmation of his identity in the deposition leads to his revelation about his ex-wife's pregnancy, showing his defensive stance on personal matters."
"Toby's initial confirmation of his identity in the deposition leads to his revelation about his ex-wife's pregnancy, showing his defensive stance on personal matters."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"CLAYPOOL: There is no right to privacy in a deposition."
"TOBY: There are two babies."
"TOBY: I'm told that on my sunniest of days, I'm not that fun to be around. I wonder what's going to happen when you make my children a part of your life."