Deposition Room Observers

A loose collective of non‑participating individuals who occupy the deposition room — legal aides, court staff, press, and bystanders — whose silent scrutiny and visible reactions harden the hearing’s tone. Their presence intensifies consequences when Claypool produces Leo McGarry’s treatment record and Josh reacts physically: they constrain counsel behavior, magnify reputational risk, and convert a procedural inquiry into a public moral reckoning. They do not drive events but they make every provocation consequential, shaping strategy and foreshadowing institutional fallout.