Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/191

191 Yes. I left the Capitol shortly after 8 p.m. I waited to make sure that the Senate was back in session. They gaveled back in just a few minutes after 8. And once they were back in session and everything was operational, I then left.

Just as a question about how your role came to be so that these calls, was it—Mr. Bowdich was still with you at that time, correct?

Yes, he was with me throughout.

Was there any sense that given his capacity as number two at the Bureau, that he would be the security and operational person in charge at that time versus yourself?

No. He was certainly in charge of the FBI assets that were there. But what we did, essentially, was as soon as Bowdich and I got to the rotunda and linked up with Ashan Benedict, we asked for the senior Capitol Police officer on scene.

We were put in contact with him there in the rotunda. I explained who I was. And I said we have ATF, we have FBI, we have marshals, we have whatever you need. Tell us what you need to get this building cleared and operational. And then he asked for certain specific things.

Pursuant to his request, we did that. We sent FBI toward one Chamber, ATF to another Chamber to work with the Capitol Police to clear the Chambers.

And then he, if you guys can help clear the Chambers, we, the Capitol Police, will clear the hallways and the offices and the closets and all that stuff.

Because we wanted to make sure of two things. One, there was no one left behind hiding in a closet or some other place. And, two, that there were no devices left behind like a pipe bomb left in the Senate Chamber.

So that was the immediate goal in terms of clearing the facility. And we made our people on scene available to the Capitol Police, and they appreciated that, and they