Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/70

70 And so he—from a layman's perspective, I certainly understand this—he believed that we should be bringing these suits and that, if we did, as a Department, bring these suits, they would get adjudicated more on the merits than get kicked out in standing.

Now, a number of these cases were addressed on the merits as well, and, ultimately, they were all unsuccessful, including one that went to the Supreme Court. But, similar to some of the others, the Supreme Court one was decided largely on the 7 standing ground. So the President didn't fully understand the role of the Department.

Ms. Cheney. Yeah. And I think it's very important to note that a number of the 9 cases were, in fact, decided on the merits. It has become sort of the talking point to assert they were all thrown out, and the merits weren't considered, but a number of the cases were decided on the merits.

And so, in terms of the President's—you know, the question about whether the President, quote, did not understand or did not care, was not troubled by. You know, it seems like you're making an assessment about the President's frame of mind in terms of why he was asking you to do what he was doing.

Mr. Donoghue. Well, I certainly don't want to speculate about what was really in his mind, but I can relay what he said and his demeanor. And, throughout, he appeared to believe, one, that he had won the election; two, that the results were somehow corrupted; and, three, that we, the Department, were not doing all that we should be doing to ensure that these matters were addressed. There was nothing he said or did anywhere in this process that indicated that he didn't really believe these things. Whether he did or not, I have no ability to say.

Ms. Cheney. Yeah, well, and I think we've seen there were a number of instances where you all would tell him the claim he was making was false, and he would later come back and make the same claim again.