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At her own surveillance hearing, Mace displays a 'naked silhouette' of herself: 'That's my body. You can see the silhouette.'

Chairing a House Oversight subcommittee hearing she titled 'Breach of Trust: Surveillance in Private Spaces,' Rep. Nancy Mace held up a poster-sized image she said depicted her own body, told the room it had been captured by hidden surveillance without her consent, and said no one had been arrested. She tied the image to her ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant, who categorically denies her allegations; the matter is contested and in ongoing litigation.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., makes his way to a House Republican Conference meeting with President Donald Trump on the budget reconciliation bill in the U.S. Capitol on May 20, 2025.
Photo: The Daily Beast. Source

On May 20, 2025, Rep. Nancy Mace, chairing a House Oversight subcommittee hearing she had titled "Breach of Trust: Surveillance in Private Spaces", held up a poster-sized image she said depicted her own body and told the hearing room it had been captured by hidden surveillance without her consent.

The Daily Beast's Sarah Ewall-Wice reported that Mace brought the display to the hearing as she accused her ex-fiancé, Charleston businessman Patrick Bryant, and others of recording women without permission; ABC News 4 in Charleston covered the same moment.

Rep. Nancy Mace at the dais of the May 20, 2025 House Oversight surveillance hearing she chaired, beside the poster-sized surveillance still she said depicted her, the figure circled in yellow, with her 'Ms. Mace, Chairwoman' nameplate in front of her

Mace at the hearing she chaired, beside the poster-sized surveillance still she displayed on the board, the circled figure she told the room was her own "silhouette." Frame from the U.S. House Oversight Committee's official hearing livestream. Watch the full hearing →

Describing the image on the official record, Mace said:

"I had an oversight about surveillance in private spaces, and that's my body. You can see the silhouette. It's, I mean, it's pretty tame. It's the silhouette. You can tell that it's me and my long hair and everything."

She described the footage as showing women, herself among them, who were "recorded on this camera without their knowledge, without their permission, without their consent," and said that despite coming forward, no one had been held to account:

"today, a year and a half later, since I came forward to law enforcement with all this evidence … no one's been arrested."

Mace told the subcommittee she had also displayed other images she attributed to Bryant:

"I found evidence going back a decade of upskirt photos. And I showed some of those in this hearing."

She framed her own role in the underlying dispute as that of a witness: "I'm a key witness in an investigation. I'm a key witness in a now a civil suit."

Bryant categorically denies Mace's allegations, and the other men she has named deny wrongdoing. No related criminal charges have been filed; the underlying accusations are contested and unproven. Bryant issued a same-day public denial of her claims. Related civil litigation, including Musgrave v. Mace, and a South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation remain pending; nothing here is a finding of fact. See People in the Public Record.

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