Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/160

160 All right.

—the middle of the page there, it goes through some information received from the SITE Intelligence Group, which is an American NGO that tracks jihadists and White supremacist activity.

We'll go through some of what Mr. flagged for you. But is it typical for DOJ or the Counterterrorism Section to rely on an outside group to provide that type of threat information?

I don't know if it's typical. You'd have to ask the FBI about that. They can give you more insight.

But I know there are NGO groups out there, some of which are actually good—many of which are very good, that track this sort of information and they submit it. I think the government can accept the information. Obviously, you have to take it for what it's worth. It might be reliable, it might not. But since intelligence is always a mosaic, you don't ever turn anything away. You may or may not give it weight, but you take in everything that you can to give yourself the best possible picture.

I'd just note the details of what this NGO is providing, such as: online forum threatening attacks on Democrat and Republican politicians. There's a call to occupy Federal buildings. There's mention of invading the Capitol Building. And there's, the last bullet there, online comments hoping for a civil war and a, quote, "'shot heard around the world,' in a reference to the beginnings of the American Revolution."

Do you know if—

Yes, this—

Did this information have any impact on the Bureau or DOJ's preparations?

It certainly caused concern, but we had had concern even before this email and before this reporting. So this is why the Acting AG wanted to move as many