There are moments in public life when the act of not speaking says far more than any well-crafted line could. Former U.S. congresswoman and California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter’s recent dismissive attitude and refusal to answer an interviewer’s basic questions was one of those moments.

What should have been a routine encounter became a case study in how evasion corrodes trust faster than any substantive misstep. Porter went from putative frontrunner in the race to be the next governor of California to seeing the bottom fall out of her electoral support in a matter of hours. For anyone in business leadership, there is a direct parallel: how you show up under pressure will define your credibility far more than what you say when times are good.

Porter built her reputation on directness and accountability. Yet, when the questions turned inward—when the scrutiny was on her own culture and conduct—she shut down. The camera rolled as she bristled and evaded direct answers. The optics were brutal: a personal brand built on transparency and accountability suddenly looked opaque.

The business lesson is clear. Stakeholders, investors, employees, and customers alike now hold leaders to the same standard of openness they claim to demand from others. In an age of radical visibility, you cannot champion accountability and then retreat behind silence when it becomes inconvenient.

Crisis communication is not about defending perfection; it’s about demonstrating integrity under stress. The instinct to “go dark” is common in the private sector, especially when legal or HR processes are involved. But silence is no longer neutral—it’s interpretive. In the vacuum left by Porter’s refusal to answer the interviewers questions, every pundit, activist, and opponent projected their own version of the truth about her true nature. The same happens in boardrooms and social feeds every day. In a hyper-connected world, if you don’t fill the narrative space, someone else will, and you will have no control over what they write into it.

There’s another layer to this lesson. Porter’s defensiveness didn’t just hurt her public image; it undercut the culture she had claimed to champion. Organisations mirror their leaders’ tone. When executives evade questions, their teams learn that avoidance is acceptable. When leaders face difficult questions calmly, with empathy and clarity, they model responsibility.

That doesn’t mean speaking recklessly. Sometimes facts are incomplete, or processes are underway that cannot be prejudiced. But the difference between responsible restraint and evasive silence lies in preparation and posture. A skilled communicator can acknowledge scrutiny, express respect for due process, and reaffirm commitment to values—all without crossing legal lines. It’s not what you can’t say that defines credibility; it’s how you hold the space in the meantime.

Porter’s silence has become a cautionary tale for communicators everywhere. You cannot fake or outsource authenticity. For business leaders, the takeaway is simple but profound: your credibility is not built in the calm, but in the storm. When scrutiny comes, don’t run from the questions—own the conversation. Even imperfect transparency is more powerful than perfect silence.

In the end, silence rarely protects a brand or company. It only delays the reckoning.

– Paul Boughey
Chief Executive Officer