Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/77

77 But we weren't reporting back to the White House simply because the President mentioned some allegations.

I see. It wouldn't be consistent with protocol for you to go back to the President every time something that comes up in a discussion is investigated or resolved?

He didn't instruct us to do that, and we weren't going to do it. So.

Yeah. All right. I want to turn your attention, if you can now to exhibit 10, which we get back into Mr. Clark. The next day, December 28th, you and Mr. Rosen get an email from Mr. Clark, and he is asking for two urgent action items. Tell us about this email, the two actions that he requested, and what your response was.

Right. So DAG Rosen and I spoke, I think, probably several times on the 27th and certainly the 28th because that was a Monday. DAG Rosen and Jeff Clark had a long personal and professional relationship. They had known each other for decades. They had worked at the same law firm together. He knew Jeff Clark much better than I did. And, you know, we discussed why Jeff Clark's name was coming up, why it was coming from the President, why it was coming from this Congressman. And Jeff Rosen said: Well, look, I am going to talk to Jeff Clark to find out what's going on here. We got to get to the bottom of this.

So I think he had conversations with Jeff Clark earlier on the 28th. They preceded this email, which came fairly late in the day. I did not talk to Jeff Clark before this.

So, at 4:40, I received this email from Jeff Clark. I read it. I read the attachment. I had to read it more than once to make sure I really understood what he was proposing. And then I drafted a response. I don't know where Jeff Rosen was at this point, but I went to his office, and he wasn't there. So I didn't get to discuss my response with him before I sent it. But I sent it out. And then I saw him shortly