Patrick Semansky/AP

Earlier today, before Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper was scheduled to testify behind closed doors, a group of Republicans stormed the room, known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, in protest.

The Republicans involved are not on the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry and are therefore barred from today's closed testimony.

A committee official told CNN that the House Republican Members violated House deposition rules by entering the SCIF anyway.

"The stunt, in service of the President’s demand that they ‘fight harder’ to obstruct a legitimate impeachment inquiry, has meant that the witness has had to wait for hours for them to leave," the source said. "They engage in this circus-like behavior because they can’t defend the President’s egregious misconduct."

The source also criticized the Republican Members for causing a major security breach by bringing their electronics into the SCIF.

"Although several members later removed their devices, after being advised by the Sergeant at Arms and security personnel that there were members still in possession of electronic devices, some Republican members refused to completely remove them,” the source said.