Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/41

41 And as I walked in, DAG Rosen's phone, cell phone, started ringing. He took it out, he looked at it. He looked a little perplexed, like he was deciding whether to answer it. And I said, "Sir, I think that's the White House. You should answer it."

He answered it, and I heard him say, "Yes, I can hold." And he began walking back toward his office. I followed him into his office. I took a Post-it note, I wrote "POTUS will ask you to be Acting AG upon Barr's departure," and I handed it to him. He nodded. I walked out of the room, closed the door, and I told the people assembled that the meeting was over.

I see.

They all left. And, after a few minutes, he came to my office and told me about his conversation with the President.

And he was thereafter named to be Acting Attorney General upon AG Barr's departure—he, Rosen?

Right. There was a tweet, or several tweets, that went out shortly after that from the President's account that said AG Barr has submitted his resignation, he'll be gone by Christmas, and that DAG Rosen will be the Acting Attorney General and that I would be in the position of the Deputy Attorney General.

Do you have any idea, Mr. Donoghue, why the President contemplated—or, actually, offered you, leaping over Rosen, the position of Acting Attorney General?

No. I'd had very limited contact with the President. From, I think, January of 2019 until December of 2020, I'd had no contact with him. I hadn't seen him, hadn't spoken to him for an extended period of time.

I had interacted with the President as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York. It's his home district. He's very interested in what goes on there. He was very interested in our MS-13 prosecution program. He and I had discussed that way