Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/12

12 I see. So you and Mr. DuCharme essentially switched places. You came to Washington to serve as the PADAG, and he went to be the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York?

Yes, that's right.

And that was, Mr. Donoghue, you said, June of 2020, is that right, or was it 2019?

I think the actual switch was July of 2020, so it was in the middle of COVID.

Got it. Okay. All right. I wanted to stop for just a minute and introduce Congressman Schiff, who is a member of the select committee. I think Congressman Schiff has joined us remotely. I want to make sure his presence is noted as well.

Good morning, sir.

Mr. Donoghue, you are using the acronym PADAG. What does that stand for, and what does the PADAG do?

The PADAG is the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. There are a number of Associate Deputy Attorneys General, about a dozen or so. And the PADAG, essentially within the organizational chart, sits on top of them and serves as the—sort of the right-hand executive to the Deputy Attorney General. So, in that position, I was the number two to the number two for the Department.

Right. And, when you came in July of 2020 to serve as PADAG, who was the Deputy Attorney General?

At that time, it was Jeff Rosen.

Okay. Did you have a prior relationship with Mr. Rosen, worked with him, knew him?

A little bit, yes. Certainly, all the U.S. attorneys report up to the Deputy Attorney General, as do the heads of the different agencies within the Department. So