Preparing for congressional testimony: Hallmarks of effective red team exercises

Congressional committees wield broad subpoena powers, request expansive document productions, and compel testimony from senior executives and other officers through public hearings, depositions, and transcribed interviews (TIs). For organizations and individuals involved in these inquiries, the implications may extend beyond legal considerations and can include business, regulatory, operational, and reputational impacts.

In this environment, proactive preparation is strongly encouraged. Among the most effective tools available to counsel and their clients is the red team exercise: a structured, adversarial simulation designed to stress-test an organization’s readiness for unique congressional testimony, identify vulnerabilities before committee investigators do, and improve witness performance.

This alert explains how red teaming works in this context and why organizations may consider it when preparing witnesses for congressional proceedings.

What are red team exercises?

A red team exercise is a structured adversarial simulation in which lawyers, consultants, or other advisors assume the roles of skeptical or probing committee staff, members of Congress, or media representatives. The team pressure-tests the organization’s witnesses, factual positions, and strategy before a real proceeding. In preparing for TIs, depositions, and hearings, red teaming can identify weaknesses in testimony, inconsistencies in organizational narratives, and areas of factual or legal exposure before others exploit them.

When directed by counsel for the purpose of providing legal advice, red team exercises may receive protection under the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine. They are generally most effective when conducted early enough to permit remediation, follow-up analysis, and iterative improvement.

Red teaming for TIs, depositions, and hearings

Red team exercises can be tailored to the risks, timelines, and objectives of the congressional request. Congressional testimony may look similar to discovery or evidentiary proceedings in litigation, but it operates under a distinct framework: Committee rules, House and Senate rules, negotiated protocols, and institutional practices differ substantially from those governing judicial or administrative proceedings. These differences affect and govern the scope of questioning, the availability of objections, privilege assertions, document use, and treatment of the resulting transcript or video recording. Common “red team” approaches include:

• Simulated TIs: TIs conducted by committee staff are a hallmark of modern congressional investigations. Unlike public hearings, TIs are conducted behind closed doors, often with experienced staff attorneys asking detailed, document-intensive questions. Red team simulations of TIs allow witnesses to practice navigating document-based questioning, managing the transcript record, and avoiding pitfalls such as speculation, over-disclosure, and inadvertent inconsistencies with prior statements. In the context of TIs, red team exercises are also designed to introduce witnesses to the mechanics of TIs, including staff, member, and party dynamics.
  
  
• Deposition readiness: Congressional depositions present distinct challenges for witnesses, including potentially lengthy questioning sessions, granular factual inquiries, and the creation of a sworn record that may be used in subsequent enforcement actions or referrals. Red teaming for deposition preparation can help witnesses develop discipline in listening carefully to questions, answering only what is asked, managing fatigue over extended sessions, and avoiding common traps such as agreeing to imprecise characterizations, speculating beyond personal knowledge, or inadvertently waiving privilege. By subjecting witnesses to realistic deposition simulations in advance, counsel can identify areas in which testimony may be vulnerable to impeachment or inconsistency with other witnesses’ accounts and develop strategies to navigate those risks.
  
  
• Mock hearings and simulated testimony: Public hearings often present unique challenges for witnesses because of their visibility and potential public scrutiny, even when the questioning may be less intensive than the sustained examination common in TIs or depositions. Mock hearings replicate the conditions of a congressional hearing as closely as possible, including the format of questioning, time limits, questioning styles, and media or gallery observation. A panel using varied questioning styles can test a witness’s ability to maintain composure, stay on message, and answer accurately under pressure while surfacing challenging facts before they emerge publicly.

Benefits of red team exercises for congressional testimony

Congressional testimony – whether in a TI, deposition, or public hearing – could present distinct legal, political, and reputational challenges. Red team exercises can help organizations:

• Identify factual and reputational vulnerabilities. Red teams expose witness habits, gaps in the record, potential vulnerabilities, and facts that could cause significant harm if surfaced during a TI, deposition, or hearing. Counsel and organizational leaders can then develop mitigation strategies, prepare accurate responses and messaging, and make informed decisions about cooperation and disclosure.
  
  
• Strengthen witness performance and message discipline. Exercises test whether core messages remain accurate, credible, and responsive under sustained questioning. They also help witnesses practice listening carefully, answering only the question asked, avoiding speculation, and maintaining composure without appearing evasive or argumentative.
  
  
• Anticipate intensive questioning. Members and staff may employ strategic questioning, rapid-fire exchanges, or detailed factual inquiries. Red teaming allows witnesses to encounter these dynamics in a controlled setting, reducing the risk of surprise, revealing where approved messaging breaks down, and building the discipline needed for calm, controlled testimony.
  
  
• Manage legal, political, and reputational risk. Congressional testimony is both a legal proceeding and a public event. Red teaming can prepare the witness and the organization’s legal, communications, and government relations teams to anticipate testimony-related risks, media coverage, investor reaction, and political fallout. This coordination supports a coherent response across stakeholders and channels.
  
  
• Improve responsiveness to committee requests. By identifying potential points of conflict early, organizations can engage proactively with committee staff, negotiate scope, and demonstrate good faith. That posture can influence the trajectory and tone of an investigation.
  
  
• Prepare executives for personal legal exposure. Senior executives may be unfamiliar with congressional procedures and the risks associated with creating a sworn or transcribed record. Testimony can implicate criminal statutes governing false statements and perjury. Red teaming can help witnesses understand those risks, answer questions truthfully and precisely, avoid volunteering unnecessary information, and effectively handle questions that implicate privilege.

Takeaways

Organizations and executives facing the prospect of congressional investigations should consider the following steps:

• Begin early. Conduct red team exercises well before testimony so the organization has time to investigate gaps, remediate vulnerabilities, and refine its approach.
  
  
• Simulate realistically. Replicate the rules, questioning styles, time pressure, document use, and political dynamics the witness is likely to encounter. The more closely the exercise replicates the actual conditions witnesses will face, the more prepared the witness will be.
  
  
• Focus on vulnerabilities. Adopt the perspective of the most skeptical questioners and test difficult facts rather than merely rehearsing favorable narratives.
  
  
• Integrate legal, communications, and government relations strategies. Conduct the exercise through counsel to maximize privilege and work product protections, but structure the exercise to include cross-functional teams. Coordination can help ensure coherent strategy across legal, media, stakeholder, and political dimensions.
  
  
• Iterate and refine. Red teaming is not a one-time event. Update the preparation as requests evolve, new documents emerge, and political dynamics shift.
  
  
• Treat red teaming as an investment, not an expense. The potential costs of inadequate preparation – which could include reputational harm, regulatory exposure, political damage, and legal liability – may exceed the investment required for rigorous red team exercises.

Effective red teaming is intentionally demanding. The exercise is designed to expose weaknesses, push the witness beyond familiar talking points, and recreate the fatigue, uncertainty, and pressure of sustained congressional questioning. While a productive session may feel uncomfortable in the moment, its controlled setting allows individuals to make mistakes, refine answers, and build the judgment and composure needed when the stakes are real. One measure of a successful exercise is that, after the TI, deposition, or hearing concludes, the witness feels that the actual proceeding was more manageable than the preparation.

For more information on how red team exercises can strengthen your organization’s preparation for congressional investigations, hearings, depositions, or TIs, please contact the authors.