Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/47

47 contacts that you had in that role with the former President and others in the White House.

And I want to start with the call on December the 27th and call your attention to exhibit 6, which I understand is—

Yes, I have it.

Now, is exhibit 6, Mr. Donoghue, contemporaneous notes that you actually took as this telephone call was going on?

Yes.

All right. Tell us, first of all, the circumstances of how it is that you ended up on the phone on December 27th with the President and others. How did you get involved in that conversation?

I traveled back to New York on December 24th for Christmas. I was up there for a couple of days. I think the 27th is a Sunday. I was preparing to go back to Washington that evening.

I was at home on Long Island, and my government cell phone rang. It was Acting Attorney General Rosen. I answered it. And he said, essentially, "Hey, I'm on the phone with the President. We've been on for about 30 minutes. He's talking about some of this election stuff. You know it better than I do. Do you mind if I conference you in?" And I said, "Sure. Of course. That's fine." And he conferenced me in to the call with the President.

Okay. And were you—again, your understanding, Mr. Donoghue, that you were conferenced in because there was going to be discussion of the stuff with which you'd been personally involved, the election-related matters in the U.S. attorneys' offices?

Right. Throughout this time, I had a better handle on what the Department